Good companies will pay handsomely for high quality technical expertise. I know this because they pay me, my firm, and my team huge $ to help them get product Quality back under control and back within regulatory compliance expectations. What you have described sounds like you have only been able to land jobs at a few shlock houses in you career so far.
They want it cheap, and they want to hire it in the form of contractors. This is not the way to make new technology happen.
You wrote that you work or have worked at a Contract manufacture of pharmaceuticals (the products was next shipped to be pressed into tablets). Was it a problem that another firm chose to hire your firm to do this task?
I hired contracted manufacturers to synthesize a unique active pharmaceutical ingredient on which I am named on the patent. I did the same for formulation development. There are plenty of contact manufacturing facilities that make new technology happen. You just have to work for the right ones.
I would not advise anyone to go into the sciences--the courses are tough, you end up spend 20 class hours for a 5 hour credit because of the lab courses, and then when you graduate, you find yourself reporting to some slug with a marketing degree.
Sounds like you are still too close to the time of having completed your undergrad education to appreciate where it can take you. I started at the bottom in the lab and own my own company today. In 1982 I earned a mere $13K. This year I will clear $1MM.
As far as having Quality personnel in a company reporting into some marketing dick, I saw that at a pharma firm once. FDA did too. They weren't happy. FDA cited them. The pharma firm called my firm in to advise them, to negotiate with the Agency, to reorganize their Regulatory Affairs and Quality Operations departments and to assist with the "redeployment" of some "lesser performing" management entities. That task (1) minimized their exposure, (2) got FDA of their back (because they could have been put out of business), and (3) corrected their problems going forward. Ka-ching: value added.
It only gets better as you gain experience, because your experience is downgraded--"entry level" jobs with 3-5 years industrial experience. This country has to get serious about employing the technical people we already have before hatching out legions more.
You need find a firm and to be employed by a firm that is defined by excellence. Only you can downgrade your experience. Showing up on time for 3 - 5 years is a minimum expectation, not a value added. Experience is not only defined by "time in," it is also defined by value added. Whatever value you have ever added to an employer is what you have to sell to your next employer.
Dumping on your own education is like pissing into your shoe. Like I said, only you can downgrade your experience. Don't piss on your assets.
FReegards!
