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Is a computer science degree worth it?

Thats the question most computer science graduates would ask as they read news of massive layoffs in the tech industry.

Amazon deepens tech sector gloom as the company announced it would axe another 9,000 roles on Monday,Reutersreported.

The move piles on a wave of layoffs that have swept the tech sector as an uncertain economy forces companies to get leaner.

Other tech giants like Microsoft and Facebook have made similar moves.

Meta has announced that they will be laying off another 10,000 people and will institute a further hiring freeze as part of the companys Year of Efficiency, according to aFacebook postby Mark Zuckerberg.

Microsoft is in its third round of layoffs. The company has axed jobs that impacted employees in roles related to supply chain, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things,Business Standardreports.

Tech layoffs are putting a gloom on the industry. As a computer science graduate, you might be wondering: Is a computer science degree worth it? Source: Chris Delmas/AFP

Approximately 174 tech companies have laid off over 56,000 employees in 2023, according toForbes.

As a sector that has long been one of explosive growth and capitalising on the latest trends, companies are constantly readjusting their priorities and resources for growth.

That includes allocating the necessary workforce for the right jobs or challenging resources to new tech that may benefit a company in the long run.

Whats more, the economy has been anything but stable in the last year.

Thecost of living crisishas made headlines in the UK, and economists have forecasted arecession to hit the USas early as Jan. 2023.

Naturally, tech companies are trimming their expenses by cutting jobs.

Deputy Dean at MITs Sloan School of Management Michael Cusumano, however, thinks that massive tech layoffs have more to do with investors than the companies bottom lines.

Investors focus more on revenue per employee. With so many hires during the COVID-19 pandemic, that metric has declined dramatically for major tech firms.

Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, thinks otherwise. He believes that companies are copying each other.

Oftentimes, companies dont have a cost problem. They have a revenue problem. And cutting employees will not increase your revenue. It will probably decrease it, he told The Verge.

So, why do tech companies lay off workers?

People do all kinds of stupid things all the time, Pfeffer shares. I dont know why youd expect managers to be any different.

If you dreamed of working at Microsoft, theres still light at the end of the tunnel. Source: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP

It depends.

According to theUS Bureau of Labour Statistics, the median usual weekly wage for full-time employees who have obtained a degree wasUS$1,525in the first quarter of 2022, compared toUS$827for those with only a high school diploma and no college.

It shows that the highest paying jobs are usually possible with a degree qualification.

Data fromPayscales Online Salary Surveyshow that those who graduate with a computer science degree have a median starting salary ofUS$77,300.

When they graduate, they can work as a:

But at what cost?

Theres no better place to study computer science than in a country that gave birth to the worlds first computer. Source: Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP

Depending on the uni youve chosen, the cost to pursue a computer science degree varies.

At Stanford University, the cost of attendance for the 2022-23 term is US$79,540. This price includes tuition, housing, food, and estimated miscellaneous expenses.

At the University of Florida, students can expect to payUS$45,428for an education in computer science. This number includes transportation costs, living expenses, miscellaneous personal expenses, and federal student loan fees.

Theres also the option to pursue your computer science degree online a golden opportunity for those who want to pursue this lucrative career without going through the trouble of living in a new country.

Do also consider that inflation in the US is currently around 8.6%, the highest figure since the early 1980s, according to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

It will affect the cost of most commodities from food and gasoline to housing.

With this, universities across the country have unfortunately had to raise the costs of tuition after holding out throughout the pandemic.

Seattle UniversityandSyracuse University, for example, have raised their tuition by3.75%and4.5%, respectively.

Robert Manning, Board of Trustees Chair of the University of Massachusetts, says the2.5% tuition fee increaseacross all its campuses is unavoidable.

Pair this with theincrease in groceries and rent, and international students would need to fork out more money to cover their cost of living over the next few years.

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Is a computer science degree worth it during a period of rampant ... - Study International