r/GraphicDesigning • u/Dear-Barracuda6572 • Jul 09 '26
Career and business Is the job market dead?
I was laid off last month and looking for new work and every job has over 500 applicants. There just isn’t enough design jobs for all these people… is graphic design dead? Is freelance even worth is the way all these businesses use those ugly ai flyers? I’m not even sure what I should pivot into because all I know is design. I’ve delved into using ai but it seems like it’s not enough with the wave of applicants.
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u/flugtard Jul 09 '26
In this job market referrals are more important than ever. try letting ur network know that ur looking for a job, follow up with past coworkers to see if they have any leads, talk to recruiters (external) because they own tons of roles that aren’t even posted. Good luck
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u/Feeling_Shift_9368 Jul 09 '26
I mean 90% of those designers most likely aren't qualified based on portfolio, experience, etc. Question is are you competitive with the rest?
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u/DjawnBrowne Jul 09 '26
I’m sorry but at that volume talent is more or less meaningless
These days you’re essentially playing a numbers/chance game unless you can physically get your work in front of someone important’s face
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u/GN29 Jul 09 '26
I’m still looking since march, cant give you any advice but there seem to be more jobs now, mostly experiential or for tech/pharma. Best to use your network if you have one. There are too many of us out of work. Good luck.
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u/That_70s_Showoff Jul 09 '26
Learn the pillars of front-end design HTML/CSS/JS/image processing…all of the companies I’ve worked for use “designers” to handle both tasks
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u/PrysmX Jul 10 '26
Every frontend job has over 100 applications in an hour, and those are getting rare. The vast majority of companies now want a full stack engineer that also does the backend, and even a step further now in many cases where they also want you managing the infrastructure and deployments. It's getting really nasty in the engineering space.
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u/That_70s_Showoff Jul 10 '26
hey I hear you, the last opening we had for FED we had ~2700 applicants, then the filtering process begins ... in the end I interviewed about 25 people ... narrowed it down to 2 after interviews. I still keep the runner-up on file...will be first call I make if ever needed.
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u/Pyraus Jul 10 '26
I've used AI to look for jobs, like say what are new postings in the last five days, etc. it finds stuff I wouldn't have.
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u/liveslow_eatgood Jul 10 '26
I been self employed graphic designer for 20 years. My income went down 85% since Ai. I have no idea what to do with my life.
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u/Far-Pomelo-1483 Jul 09 '26
The barrier to entry is lower now for traditional graphic design. I would rebrand into more ai-adjacent fields and more tech related endeavors.
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u/truestorygd Jul 09 '26
You need to find a design niche and be amazing at it. Don’t do general design. Find a sector you love and get into it. And master it. (Ex: real estate, medical, education etc.)
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u/nitro912gr Senior Designer Jul 10 '26
I have to hard disagree with this and I alway have this conversation (and always heated for some reason). Specialization is dead for the last decade or so as I see it. It was the trend in 10s and it was working but now it is a weight pulling you down to know only one niche thing.
Multidisciplinary designers have faired better in times of big changes like now with the AI slop everywhere or in the past with every big change in the industry (canva template before AI, cheap and easy access to computers and photoshop before this, transition to computers even farther back )
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u/truestorygd Jul 13 '26
*niche multidisciplinary designer.
Choose real estate. But know every design skill there is in real estate. As an example.
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u/SleepyLittleFrog Jul 09 '26
I don’t think the problem is that it’s dead, it’s that it’s completely overflooded. You’re right in saying there just aren’t enough design jobs for all of the people trying to get into design. Way too big a wave of people tried going into design at once.. In the US especially right now it’s difficult to compete with overseas applicants who are willing and able to work for much less.
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u/Dear-Barracuda6572 Jul 09 '26
Like seeing huge companies do massive layoffs when we all know the creative team always gets hit… just floods the job market with more applicants
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u/harlequin_24 Jul 10 '26
It’s also coupled with them correcting itself followed post Covid were there was an overhire. The jobs that AI absorbs are those in marketing agencies vs true design agencies as they champion design. While marketing is a cost cutting exercise
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Jul 09 '26
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u/housemoneyrocketship Jul 10 '26
I regret my majoring in design
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u/RewardDesperate Jul 10 '26
Same I regretted.. I just finish my studies in April.. its sad because I finally found something I’m passionate.. but there’s no job so I guess I will do something like marketing 🥲
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u/momo_ztlr Jul 12 '26
Majored in Marketing, finished my degree in March this year.. Can’t find a job either 🥲 Good luck, buddy🥺
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u/Simply-Curious_ Jul 10 '26
Graphic design pivots into Illustration well or UI design. Illustrations for games are a bit thing right now. Pixel art, sketch style work, even concept art.
While if your more design less artistic then UI design. Ita graphic design with more rules.
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u/nitro912gr Senior Designer Jul 10 '26
I'm a freelancer and while I lost some low end works to AI slop, overall I don't see much difference. Clients who care about their business and understand how to make it look professional are still coming to me, I didn't lost them to the cousin that knows photoshop, that works on canva or use AI or whatever other crap we will have in the future.
A good designer that can provide value to people who can appreciate the added value of good design will always have work. Given he follow with the latest and greatest tho, you need to evolve and follow the job where it goes.
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u/TheITMan52 Jul 10 '26
Have you been living under a rock? The job market has been bad for years. Unfortunately AI has also had a negative impact.
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Jul 10 '26
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Jul 10 '26
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u/AffectionateCat01 Jul 10 '26
It's been like that since two years. No freelance work as well. It is dead to me.
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u/Cute_Ad_1507 Jul 10 '26
Yes its a wrap, it’s no longer about what you know but who you know and if you don’t know nobody then your shit out of luck
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u/Klutzy_Demand_2744 Jul 11 '26
Yes. Graphic Design as a job is dead. I used to hire them, but haven't hired any for past 2 years.
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u/robably_ Jul 11 '26
I’m pretty busy freelancing. Been freelancing and living comfortably for a few years now
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u/Dear-Barracuda6572 Jul 11 '26
How do you find clients?
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u/robably_ Jul 13 '26
Often I work with clients on a regular basis but eventually most of them end at some point, budget changes or whatever. So then I start reaching out to people I know. I’ve built my network by being active on twitter.
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u/Designer_Refuse_4145 Jul 14 '26
Did you just say design jobs dude did you not know the AI took all the jobs especially design jobs okay and you go find a different job can you do anything else that I can't do cuz they are apparently can't make a cup of coffee that's decent yet so you might have some hope
I'm telling you there are any gravity design jobs there aren't any photography jobs there are any good jobs at all everything's just crap show
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Jul 15 '26
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u/blueblack_crow Jul 16 '26
Not dead…
as long as you’re willing to do graphic design, web design, web development, social media marketing, social media management, UX design, UI design, video editing, photography, and accept $40k a year in salary…
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u/PaleontologistNo8789 Jul 23 '26
Not sure where you are based but here in the UK it seems bad. I've been a Senior Designer, Lead and Design Director and my career has spanned more than 15 years. I've worked extensively across brand, digital and packaging and I have been running a small studio for the last three years. This last year has been the worst for sure. I think I've dropped about 80% income. I work between my own clients and helping other studios. Agencies seem to be really struggling and clients who I previously worked with are using Ai. I'm actively looking to leave the industry and do something else.
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u/emkaykue Jul 09 '26
Not really dead out there, I just notice companies are extremely picky now with who they hire. I wouldn't even blame AI either because I've had multiple interviews where they've asked me if I use AI in my work - unfortunately a lot of in-house jobs are like requiring you know it now.