Worried about how your “general, unspecific, non-marketable, liberal arts degree” will look to potential employers? Concerned that your government, history, literature, psychology or Gender/Ethnic studies major won’t impress interviewers in the business world? Well, think again.

That’s right Hamiltonians, you do not need to be an Economics major, or even have taken a single business course while at Hamilton, to stand out to employers in the realm of business. In fact, according to a report from

The Muse

, a major online recruiting and career search resource based out of New York, major businesses are hiring liberal arts majors from various different backgrounds (yes, students from every single major mentioned above were hired in very large numbers, left, right, and center). This report explains how reputable financial, consulting and accounting firms, such as Deloitte, Accenture, Wells Fargo, and PwC, seek liberal arts majors in high quantities. It also indicates that other large businesses such as Apple, Target, Starbucks, IBM, HP, Microsoft, just to name a few, are also hiring many liberal arts majors. Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

Many leading economists, such as Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, believe that recent technological advances will enable machines to complete the routine tasks common in many clerical and professional occupations: including jobs in the white collar financial, consulting and general business industries. Essentially, the marriage of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, two products of recent trends in technology and innovation, has given machines the humanlike ability to reason and solve difficult cognitive problems. This capacity for humanlike reasoning, particularly for routine tasks, enables machines to perform much of the work demanded in the business sectors.

Many economists, including those mentioned above, believe humans add crucial value if they have developed a skill set that complements technology, which they propose will become increasingly necessary as machines get better at performing complex tasks that were previously reserved for human labor. They suggest that ideation, large-frame pattern recognition and complex communication are the areas in which humans still have an advantage. Therefore, economists believe that individuals should develop these skills to elevate their marketability in the workforce. Hmm… doesn’t Hamilton develop skills in critical reasoning (large-frame pattern recognition), communication (I would categorize the way we learn to communicate here as “complex”), and foster intellectual curiosity, malleability and creativity (crucial components to “ideation”)? I think it does.

Shocked? Me too. Now, let’s look at an example. The largest hedge fund in the world, Bridgewater Associates, commissioned a team of software engineers to build a management system called PiOS to automate many decisions made within the firm. In fact, founder Ray Dalio wants PiOS to make three quarters of all decisions for the firm within five years, including important decisions typically reserved for human judgment such as job placement and strategic decision making. Woah, 75 percent of ALL decisions made by the biggest hedge fund in the world might be made by a computer? Yup, you read that correctly. Another interesting example is IFTF research director Devin Fidler’s prototype management software iCEO, which was able to manage the tasks for 23 people from around the world, including the creation of images and graphs.

So, you might be wondering where humans fit in if robots can perform all these tasks. Well, many economists and business minds alike believe that humans will become increasingly important in providing direction for the machines and for business. Since business is meant to serve our interests, as humans, we have the unique ability to direct our technologies by asking the appropriate questions. Technology does not know the benefits of intellectual, ethnic, and cultural diversity in the workforce. It does not understand how to ask the appropriate questions: how do we want to leverage our new ability to analyze our data? Is it ethical to record every click of a button on social media sites or mobile apps and what problems does this capability pose for security and privacy? What ethical values should our business uphold? These are questions that someone with an education in various fields (sound familiar, liberal arts folks?) might prove adept at answering.

Moreover, a report by McKinsey suggests that the automation of knowledge work could actually increase the demand for professional services, providing exciting prospects for job growth in this industry. The report discusses the automation of knowledge work and its effects on the financial industry in particular. It defines knowledge work as “the use of computers to perform tasks that rely on complex analyses, subtle judgements, and creative problem solving.” All of these skills are applicable to jobs in the business world. This report estimates that the automation of knowledge work will have an impact between $5.2 to $6.7 trillion by 2025. Their argument is that the increased productivity associated with automation and technological innovation will lower prices for the services provided by businesses, which will increase demand. Since we already discussed the type of education and skills required to successfully work in the professional services market, we know that this means more job opportunities and more money for us liberal arts majors.

So, the next time your business school, engineering, or accounting friend waves his or her hand at you, dismissing the significance of your degree, remind them about the technological changes occurring rapidly today. A specialized education might help you at the associate level, but not for long, as this work will likely soon be replaced by technology. More importantly, hold your head high and be proud of your Hamilton degree. It is not just the administration who praise the skills you acquire during your time here, it is recognized amongst the best businesses in the world.