The pipeline from elite universities to Wall Street and Silicon Valley

In 1928, economist John Maynard Keynes famously proclaimed that a century on, technological efficiency and economic prosperity would blossom so much that work would become obsolete and people would be bored from having too much leisure time. He further stated that people could retain three hours of work per day just to feel useful.

Yet, here we are, only a few years away from 2028, annd only parts of Keynes’ prediction came true — technological innovations did largely increase our productivity and replace a lot of manual and physical labor. Economically, we are in the most prosperous time in human history. However, instead of the banishment of drudgery for expansive leisure and limitless personal freedom, Americans are working more than ever. 

Wall Street Journal writer Robert Frank explained, “For many of today’s rich there is no such thing as ‘leisure’ in the classic sense — work is their play. They don’t sit around the polo field or lounge around the country club all day like Old Money. The new rich are perpetual-motion machines — young, driven and always working on the next project.” 

This newfound sentiment on the relationship between money and leisure is reflected in many undergrads at elite universities today. We fall prey to this workaholic mentality with a pathological desire to be constantly productive. 

Instead of using technological progress to free ourselves from work, we transitioned from a product-based economy to a service-based one — a category of the economy that includes finance, technology and entertainment. The entire services industry accounts for over two-thirds of the United States’ gross domestic product, creating many spiritually unfulfilling and actually meaningless jobs in the meantime — a phenomenon coined by anthropologist David Graeber as the phenomenon of “bullshit jobs.” 

But how is this all tied to us? This is where the phenomenon of “career funneling” for elite undergrads comes in. According to a 2016 study by sociologist Amy Binder, more than half of the graduates of America’s most selective colleges head into an extremely concentrated band of professions — mainly, the finance and consulting sectors, as well as high-tech firms.   

Many jobs in these sectors are what Graeber would call the “goons,” or people who act to harm or deceive others on behalf of their employers. Take the tech industry for example; advertising is the main source of revenue for many top tech firms. In the case of Meta, it contributes to 98% of its revenue.  

Joseph Stiglitz, former chief economist at The World Bank, argues that the major tech firms obtain competitive advantages over who can best exploit their consumers. Stiglitz says that a question all tech firms face internally is, “Which is the easier way to make a buck: figuring out a better way to exploit somebody, or making a better product?,” and most choose the former.

Companies like Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and Amazon care about their young recruits’ qualifications, but they care even more about their willingness to work 17 hours a day or to dedicate 120 hours to work every week. They treat workers as commodities: disposable and replaceable. 

However, the students themselves are not to blame for their career choices. The real culprit is the elaborate, structured recruitment system for particular job pathways that exists on many private, elite campuses. Binder argues, “Students come to campus, they’re very ambitious, they want to have great careers, but they’re incredibly naïve about what the labor force actually looks like.” What occurs due to this job illiteracy is a vulnerability to accept whatever job is most convenient and will let them survive in this capitalistic world.

Indeed, at the fall career fair held by the USC Career Center a few weeks ago where the University charged recruiters to come to campus — various finance, consulting and high-tech firms filled Trousdale Parkway, with lines of undergrads dressed in suits and pencil skirts despite the heat, eagerly waiting behind their booths. 

While there are other firms such as non-governmental organizations at the career fair, let’s all admit it — that was not the appeal of the career fair. The postgrad outcomes offer clear evidence of this. According to the USC Career Center, among the 30 top employers for USC graduates, 12 are in finance and consulting, including all four of the “Big Four” in consulting, all five of “FAANG” — the acronym for the five most prominent tech companies — Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google and most of the major investment banks. 

How are college students expected to avoid the siren song of these recruiters, when universities are actively, massively facilitating the pipeline from graduation to the most powerful and most wealthy sectors? 

Institutions of higher education pride themselves on their commitment to teaching their undergraduates to do good, to develop a love for thinking, to undergo an intellectual transformatio and to transform society into a better place. USC claims its central mission is “the development of human beings and society as a whole through the cultivation and enrichment of the human mind and spirit.” Yet, they partner up with Wall Street and high-tech firms to channel the young, bright, ambitious and motivated students into these sectors, which, uncoincidentally, is where their trustees, donors and wealthy alumni are from.  

To the universities: you are failing in your duty of care and revealing your hypocrisy. 

To my fellow students: Money may buy you some certainty and some prestige, but it does not buy your self-direction, personal autonomy, sense of social utility or individual fulfillment. Pursue your passion, no matter how uncertain the path seems. We said this a lot back in 2011, but it still holds true — you only live once, so don’t let these soul-sucking employers trap you into these bullshit jobs.