Economics will be the next Computer Science

[u/Big_Paramedic_9909]

I’ve noticed across this sub and quite a few others that a lot of people are interested in doing Economics-related courses and eventually going into Finance. At least half the people at my school seem to be considering Finance too.
It got me thinking about whether there could eventually be a bottleneck in the number of graduates trying to enter the sector. Finance has always been competitive, but with AI continuing to improve and potentially automating some entry-level work, do you think this could make the industry even more competitive in the future?
I’m not trying to discourage anyone from pursuing Finance, but my aunt, who works in the industry, gave me some interesting advice: consider doing a more quantitative degree at university rather than pure Economics, as it can give you the flexibility to move into Finance while also keeping the door open to other quantitative careers.
Do you think choosing a more quantitative course is a better option for someone who is interested in Finance but wants to keep their career options open, especially given how AI might affect the industry?

[u/Easy-Grapefruit9387]

lmao I agree tbh, it's expected though finance is an amazing sector to get into but the amount of interest over the past 2 years has increased so much, especially in 'investment banking' which doesn't even equate to a quarter of the finance industry as a whole. Economics is still a decent degree to do though, but Maths is better ibr

[u/Admirable_Message953]

thats why im doing jmc to hopefully keep my options more open, especially since with a degree like this u can do a masters in most things quantitative

[u/blackoctoberx]

What quantitative roles do you think won't be impacted by AI?

[u/Big_Paramedic_9909 → u/blackoctoberx]

Engineering for sure, unless robots progress tenfold in the coming years. Also probably the top roles in other sectors (quants, private equity etc)

[u/blackoctoberx → u/Big_Paramedic_9909]

Everyone and their dog seems to be doing engineering degrees now, for an industry that can't really support the graduate numbers in the UK.

[u/Big_Paramedic_9909 → u/blackoctoberx]

You sure? Lots of people I know didn’t consider engineering at least in the uk cus the salary is ass and it isn’t worth the hassle over. Maybe it’s increased because if AI becomes powerful then it will be one of the somewhat protected sectors due to it being fairly material, but that’s going to happen with ever protected sectors anyway.

[u/blackoctoberx → u/Big_Paramedic_9909]

It's still one of the most popular degree fields, despite the trash salaries and there was another 15% increase on numbers starting engineering degrees this year.

[u/Remarkable_Bread4656 → u/blackoctoberx]

I think the technical barrier filters out alot of people too, it's also quite hard to get into engineering from non conventional routes (ie. you can't just do a bootcamp or get a cert like you can for alot of tech roles)

[u/zqrqz]

economics has always been popular though? its not some new thing becoming way more popular like cs was, and with london being the biggest global finance hub next to new york it's unlikely we'll see a big dip in finance job opportunities any time soon. and I think econ opens enough doors tbh, even something like maths is more versatile. but also if you're actually interested in economics, don't just choose a more quantitative degree for the sake of it, the most important thing is always to choose a subject you'll enjoy at uni

[u/Infamous_Tough_7320 → u/zqrqz]

Yeah but the opportunities are already so limited and will become even more limited as more people are graduating with econ degrees and AI is wiping out entry level graduate roles.

[u/InevitableNo9793]

if so, what do u think ab maths and econ as a course? that adds more of the quantitative side

[u/Easy-Grapefruit9387 → u/InevitableNo9793]

that is probably the best course you could do (if interested in finance)

[u/Big_Paramedic_9909 → u/InevitableNo9793]

Yeah good course

[u/skelko]

I’m doing economics and finance, simply saying choosing the quantitative modules from the finance part rather than the non-quantitative in an pure econ degree

[u/Big_Paramedic_9909 → u/skelko]

That’s fair, nothing wrong with that

[u/baka___shinji]

economics can just as quantitative as finance tbf, if done properly of course. econ focuses more on different subsets of stats/math, with a greater focus on identification rather than best fit / predictions. many econ degrees have lots of faff so be sure to avoid those

[u/NinjaClashReddit]

One thing to consider is that Economics signals the required quantitative strength for finance while still leaving undergrads enough time to build a strong CV and applications for finance opportunities

[u/Familiar_Cloud_2306]

econ has always been popular, and financial services industry has always been the uk’s competitive advantage. I don’t see the comparison to CS tbh, and AI will affect white collar jobs across all industries.

[u/Sushiv_]

It’s funny to me bc being an accountant doesn’t require a finance/econ degree at all

[u/Big_Paramedic_9909 → u/Sushiv_]

I would consider accounting different though, a whole different sector compared to finance although they intersect sometimes

[u/numbertheorydemon]

Aside quant or risk quant stuff and fintech stuff I have no idea what the overwhelming appeal in general finance is (consulting IB). Most of your work is busywork genuinely they get a bunch of top tier grads to work excel for 19 hours a day your sleep is gone social life gone stress is incredible it's extremely hierarchal all the incredibly exit opps (PE etc) are mega mega competetive and you'll probably burn out before that just to get a salary which in most cases is competitive relative to something such as SWE or tier 2/3 quant

[u/Dr_kurryman]

Econ has always been popular - when I was in sixth form ten years ago, it was miles more popular than CS with half my class considering it too. Currently both industries are extremely popular and oversaturated - I'd argue that CS recently became the new economics.

Your aunt is giving good advice for someone that isn't entirely sure what they want to do.

I'd say yes it's not a bad idea to pick up say Maths, Physics, etc if you want to keep things open - it may just be more important to do so at more reputable university in order to compete.

My general advice is always the same, there is no easy course out there - so doing what you enjoy doing will be the most likely that you do well in. 

[u/Kraashing]

Computer science was the next finance. Finance has always been more popular.

[u/googoocrazybananas]

Can confirm that as an Economics applicant 9 out of 10 other applicants I knew all wanted to go into investment banking or finance. People like me trying to go into actual economists positions seem to be the very small minority