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When I graduated with degree in Molecular Biology in 1976, I was surprised when some of my fellow students pursued employment with pharmaceutical companies. At the time, the only relevant employment was either research at places like Cold Spring Harbor or medical school. A few pursued pharmacy school. Ten years later, I met a PhD in my field. Senior Scientist at Hybritech. He was earning $36K annually. At the same time I was a systems analyst for PacBell at $44K annually. That certainly assuaged any regrets in changing direction.

Computer Science isn't without competition or employment issues either. There are even a few jackasses that want to force software engineering into the same mold as civil and mechanical engineering. A track to become a licensed professional engineer with all the attendant financial liability that comes with signing off a design for a bridge. It's IEEE, ACM and other union-minded control freaks. No thanks. The field morphs so fast that a given body of knowledge is obsolete in 6 months to a year.

Senior Scientist at Hybritech. He was earning $36K annually. At the same time I was a systems analyst for PacBell at $44K annually. That certainly assuaged any regrets in changing direction.

Dollar for dollar, headache for headache and hour for hour, some of the best compensated people in Pharma are manufacturing operators and the maintenance crews that serve them. With a bit of overtime, we've got 30 year old, high school educated guys in manufacturing pulling down $70k.