The STEM Trap Nobody's Talking About

Noble Prize-winning economist Christopher Pissarides just dropped a hard truth: rushing into STEM might be the worst career move right now.

Here’s the thing — AI is literally eating its own. The IT jobs created to build AI will eventually be automated by the AI they built. Pissarides calls it “seeds of self-destruction embedded in the demand itself.”

Meanwhile, jobs that require empathy, creativity, and human touch — healthcare, hospitality, communications — aren’t going anywhere. Why? Because no algorithm can replace a genuine conversation or emotional intelligence.

The real kicker: even with STEM demand surging, there won’t be enough jobs for all those CS graduates flooding the market. The job market’s actually shifting toward interpersonal skills, and we’re training people for the wrong race.

Pissarides isn’t saying skip tech entirely. He’s saying the old “STEM = job security” equation is broken. Balance matters. Soft skills + technical know-how = actual future-proofing.

So before your kid commits to another coding bootcamp, ask yourself: what can AI not do yet?