[ye]

There are only a few options I see for them

1) Give up and work for a shitty job, until it gets automated, then go homeless and hope the government keeps them alive

2) Learn new marketable skills and get a job. You're right, we can't all be programmers, but we can be nurses, car mechanics, accountants, pilots, welders, plumbers, farmers, etc.

3) Start a small business. Many successful small businesses are literally as stupid as "buy wholesale, sell retail". Many have very low barriers to entry, like making ice cream.

[dinkumthinkum]

Your number 2 is silly and it makes it hard for me to take you seriously. If those are the jobs you think students should go towards, which exactly are the dead end jobs you speak of?

[ye]

All the jobs I listed, apart from nursing, are well paid.

Nursing is more for people who like to help/save other people, and it's a noble profession in my mind.

[hmsimha]

IIRC farming is notoriously underpaid, but I believe you are right about the rest.

[ye]

Well, there is "working on a farm", which is not paid well.

And then there's growing things and selling them, which is usually very profitable, and lands you all kinds of government subsidies, depending on where you are and what you're growing.

[dinkumthinkum]

Really? This is your plan for grads? I'm somewhat underwhelmed by this grand solution, just saying ...

[ye]

It's not a plan, it's an option, one of many.

I have two degrees in IT-related fields, and I'm fascinated by modern farming. If you're not familiar, I recommend checking it out.