New BLS data reveals the 10 fastest-growing and declining occupations for college-educated workers through 2034

A troubling trend in the labor market is raising serious concerns. Increasingly, recent college graduates—many of whom have taken on thousands of dollars in student loan debt—are struggling to find jobs.

Warnings from leaders in artificial intelligence are especially unsettling for young people planning their educational futures. In an interview on CNN, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic and former VP of Research at OpenAI, told Anderson Cooper that within one to five years, AI could eliminate up to 50% of jobs and push unemployment as high as 20%.

Amodei also noted that college graduates are likely to be significantly affected. Recent grads may be among the most vulnerable, as many entry-level jobs that existed just a few years ago are now being replaced by AI. Independent journalist Brian Merchant echoed these concerns in a May Substack post, highlighting troubling labor market trends that suggest job opportunities for younger workers may already be shrinking. Unemployment among this group has been rising since 2015. While some of this is due to pandemic-related disruptions, the trend has continued even as those issues have subsided.

This week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics updated its Occupational Outlook Handbook, offering new insights into which jobs are expected to grow or shrink over the next decade. The data reflects a growing trend: shrinking demand for workers with college degrees. While some fields will see expansion, it’s critical to consider the types of jobs growing—especially in terms of pay—and whether they are better than the ones being replaced.

Which roles will see a decrease in the number of jobs between 2024 and 2034?

For workers with a college degree, 23 professions are expected to see a decrease in roles over the next decade.

Among them, educational professions make up nearly a third. The BLS attributes this decline to a drop in student numbers. “The number of students in public middle schools is expected to decrease over the decade,” reads the Job Outlook section, which also notes that “the number of classes needed to accommodate these students will depend on class size, with larger classes requiring fewer teachers than smaller ones.”

In media and journalism, decreased advertising revenue is expected to lead to fewer jobs for news analysts, reporters, and journalists. Editor roles will also be impacted: “As traditional print newspapers and magazines lose ground to other media formats, employment of editors who work for those publications is projected to decline.”

Digitalization will affect roles in advertising, promotions, and marketing as well. The BLS notes that “the ability to automate digital ad placement and the use of ad blockers by digital users may further limit demand for these workers.”

Which professions will see an increase in the number of jobs between 2024 and 2034?

There are also 23 professions that the BLS projects will see growth in the number of roles “much faster than average,” with at least 10,000 additional roles added to the labor market over the next decade.

The information sector accounts for many of the occupations on this list, with the BLS noting that over the next decade, there will be “an increased demand for data-driven decisions.” According to the Job Outlook for Data Scientists, their analysis will help organizations make informed decisions, improve business processes, design and develop new products, and better market those products.

However, the projection doesn’t mention the growing role of artificial intelligence in conducting such analysis—technology that could reduce the need for human workers if much of the job can be automated.

It’s also important to note that while many of the jobs expected to grow offer higher average pay than those in decline, they also tend to have higher unemployment rates for recent college graduates. Based on analysis from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which tracks unemployment rates by undergraduate degree, computer science ranks 7th, and computer engineering 3rd, among the top ten degrees with the highest joblessness rates.

Insecurity increases in the information sector, but jobs remain available

Over the past year, jobs in the Information sector have shown some interesting trends. Between June 2024 and June 2025, there were 1,883,000 job postings in the field, with 1,074,000 workers hired. Job postings were up 11 percent compared to the previous year, and hires also increased during the same period.

However, layoffs rose as well—30 percent more workers were let go compared to the year before. This suggests that while opportunities exist, workers in the sector are experiencing a degree of uncertainty and instability.

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