If you plot all the Ph.D level tech jobs on a map, and then plot all the academia jobs on a map - do you think the latter is way more spread and diverse? I would imagine that for the former, those jobs are heavily clustered on each of the coasts, along with some smaller clusters here and there in "emerging" cities.
Not everyone wants to live in SF/NYC/Boston, and for most people, where you live is a pretty damn non-trivial point.
Second - if you get tenure in academia, you have a pretty safe position. For many it does mean work for life, good pay, and high-risk/high-reward research. If you chose to work in the industry, you are exposed to market movements. They can promise you the moon, but can still go straight out the window every 5-10-15 years.
Some enjoy academia, others enjoy the industry. If your dream goal is to live in SF or NYC and make $500k / year for the next N years, by all means purse industry. If you enjoy the thought of making $100k - $150k wherever, with minimal teaching, long vacations, and selective research - do pursue tenure.
The caveat is obviously that it is hard to get tenure, statistically speaking you have a 1 in 5 shot - but then again, landing a top research position in the industry is probably even more unlikely.
If you plot all the Ph.D level tech jobs on a map, and then plot all the academia jobs on a map - do you think the latter is way more spread and diverse? I would imagine that for the former, those jobs are heavily clustered on each of the coasts, along with some smaller clusters here and there in "emerging" cities.
Not everyone wants to live in SF/NYC/Boston, and for most people, where you live is a pretty damn non-trivial point.
Second - if you get tenure in academia, you have a pretty safe position. For many it does mean work for life, good pay, and high-risk/high-reward research. If you chose to work in the industry, you are exposed to market movements. They can promise you the moon, but can still go straight out the window every 5-10-15 years.
Some enjoy academia, others enjoy the industry. If your dream goal is to live in SF or NYC and make $500k / year for the next N years, by all means purse industry. If you enjoy the thought of making $100k - $150k wherever, with minimal teaching, long vacations, and selective research - do pursue tenure.
The caveat is obviously that it is hard to get tenure, statistically speaking you have a 1 in 5 shot - but then again, landing a top research position in the industry is probably even more unlikely.