0:01 Earning a degree
0:02 used to lead
0:03 to a steady job
0:04 with a good salary
0:05 But today
0:06 young graduates in the West
0:07 are finding fewer
0:08 employment opportunities
0:11 So, is it still worth
0:13 going to university?
0:22 The unemployment rate
0:23 of young graduates in America
0:25 is now approaching
0:26 the same rate
0:27 for the age group as a whole
0:28 In 2010
0:29 there was around
0:30 a six percentage-point difference
0:31 in unemployment
0:32 between young people
0:33 and young graduates
0:34 But now there's just a
0:35 one percentage-point difference
0:36 between them
0:37 It's not just in America
0:39 In the European Union
0:41 the unemployment rate
0:42 of young people
0:42 with tertiary education
0:44 is now approaching
0:44 the overall rate
0:45 for that age group
0:48 One theory for this
0:49 is that universities are accepting
0:51 less-talented applicants,
0:52 and then they aren't
0:53 teaching them very well
0:55 This could lead to employers
0:56 not expecting much of a difference
0:58 between the average graduate
0:59 and then someone who didn't
1:00 go to university
1:02 Another theory
1:03 is that fewer jobs
1:04 need graduate-level qualifications
1:07 For example, in the past
1:09 you often needed
1:10 to attend a university
1:11 in order to understand
1:12 how to use a computer
1:13 On the frontiers of science
1:15 the strange world
1:16 of the computer
1:17 But today almost everyone
1:18 can use tech,
1:19 regardless of whether or not
1:20 they went to university
1:22 The number of jobs
1:23 in graduate-friendly industries
1:25 is also decreasing
1:26 Across the EU
1:27 the number of 15-to-24-year olds
1:29 who are employed
1:30 in finance and insurance
1:31 fell by 16%
1:33 from 2009-2024
1:35 And, since 2016,
1:36 the number of British
1:37 twentysomethings in law and finance
1:39 has fallen by 10%
1:43 It's tempting to blame AI
1:44 for these waning opportunities
1:47 Yet the decline in graduate jobs
1:49 started long before ChatGPT
1:52 What's more likely
1:53 is that the industries
1:54 that traditionally employed graduates
1:56 have had a tough time lately
1:58 Since the global financial crisis
2:00 of 2007-2009,
2:02 the golden age of investment banking
2:04 is over,
2:05 so they're spending less money
2:06 on hiring graduates
2:08 In America
2:09 all this
2:10 is affecting young people's decision
2:12 on whether or not
2:12 to attend college
2:14 The number of Americans
2:15 enrolled in bachelor's programmes
2:17 fell by 5%
2:18 from 2013-2022,
2:20 according to data from the OECD
2:22 Yet in most rich countries,
2:24 where education is cheaper
2:25 because the state plays
2:26 a larger role,
2:27 young people are still applying
2:28 to universities in droves
2:30 Excluding America,
2:32 enrolment across the OECD
2:33 rose from 28m
2:35 to 31m
2:36 in the decade to 2022
2:40 Perhaps students
2:41 simply aren't picking
2:42 the right subjects
2:44 Arts, humanities
2:45 and social sciences
2:46 are still proving popular
2:48 Even, inexplicably, journalism
2:53 If these trends say anything
2:55 about young people's ideas
2:57 about the future of work,
2:58 they truly are in trouble
3:01 So, in the age of AI
3:03 what should you study at university?
3:07 As technology improves,
3:09 the future of work
3:10 is changing, too
3:12 Many of the jobs
3:13 that graduates will have
3:14 don't even exist yet
3:17 Some young people worry
3:18 that certain skills they learn
3:20 might become outdated
3:21 as technology changes
3:23 Coding, for example,
3:24 is at risk of becoming obsolete
3:26 within only a few years
3:28 According to one study
3:29 the percentage of American
3:30 and British IT professionals
3:31 who worry that AI tools
3:33 will make many of their
3:34 day-to-day skills obsolete
3:36 increased from 74%
3:38 to 91%
3:39 in just one year
3:40 There are some subjects
3:41 which are likely
3:42 to stay relevant
3:45 Robotics, for example,
3:46 will help people
3:47 maximise the benefits
3:48 of technological change
3:50 And practical jobs,
3:52 like plumbing
3:53 and carpentry,
3:54 are less likely
3:55 to be taken over by AI
3:56 and will remain
3:57 valued by society
3:59 These professions
4:00 often don't require
4:01 a university qualification
4:02 and can be learnt
4:03 in other ways,
4:04 like on apprenticeships
4:06 But arguably
4:06 what's more important
4:07 for students
4:08 than studying a specific subject
4:10 is to focus on learning
4:11 soft skills instead
4:12 Things like communication,
4:14 critical thinking
4:15 and reliability,
4:16 as well as empathy
4:18 and being able to
4:19 build relationships
4:20 All are transferable
4:22 across multiple industries
4:24 OECD findings
4:26 from 2019
4:27 demonstrate that people
4:27 will need to rely
4:28 on their currently
4:29 unique human skills
4:31 to succeed
4:32 Understanding how to learn
4:33 will be key
4:34 to developing new skills
4:35 and adapting in changing times
4:38 The research also suggests
4:39 that jobs with complex
4:41 social interactions,
4:42 such as care,
4:43 will still need humans
4:45 so developing skills
4:46 like negotiation
4:47 and persuasion
4:48 will be vital
4:49 Currently AI isn't very good
4:52 at these soft skills
4:53 I understand
4:54 emotions have a deep meaning,
4:55 but I can't experience them
4:56 like you can
4:58 So if workers
4:59 can plug the gaps,
5:00 while also being
5:01 able to transition
5:02 into emerging industries,
5:04 then it will help humans
5:05 to compete with machines
5:07 Nearly all degrees
5:08 will allow you
5:09 to gain these skills
5:10 through group projects,
5:11 presentations and
5:12 extra-curricular activities
5:16 Ultimately it doesn't
5:17 really matter
5:18 which degree
5:19 you choose to study
5:20 Perhaps what's even
5:21 more important
5:22 is that a student gains
5:23 work experience
5:24 or an internship
5:26 Research finds
5:27 that those who graduated
5:28 in 2022
5:30 and completed internships
5:31 were 23% more likely
5:34 to start a full-time position
5:35 within six months of graduation
5:37 This gap
5:38 increases further
5:39 in certain fields,
5:40 like oil, gas and mining,
5:42 where it rose to 65%
5:45 Although it's hard to predict
5:46 how improving technology
5:48 will change the world of work
5:50 over the coming decades,
5:51 one thing is for sure:
5:53 a student
5:54 with a variety of skills,
5:56 a lifelong desire to learn
5:57 and a good attitude
5:59 will go far
