[rpazyaquian]

Boston doesn't seem to be doing very well in the long-term. I moved here to take advantage of both the presence of tech jobs, and to live in an accepting, progressive blue state. If I want to stay in the area, what field should I be transitioning into?

I know the Boston area has a lot of medical/health companies around, and it might be worth it to start looking at those kinds of companies as a long-term solution. Are they still a good choice for MA tech jobs?

[shados]

The Boston area has quite a bit of tech jobs and pays pretty well, with the main issues being that everything is falling apart and people are crazy.

[rpazyaquian]

Sounds like SNAFU to me.

[Finnucane]

I guess it depends on what you count as a 'tech job.' I'm in Cambridge, and obviously the universities are major employers, and biotech/pharma is a dominant industry (our neighborhood surrounded by labs).

[rpazyaquian]

Software engineering, I guess, which is my field. I've heard that university work in this tends to be mediocre (and with pay to match), although biotech/pharma can be good.

[jghn]

I've been in the area for a while and have done both plus standard software jobs.

University/academic jobs do tend to have low pay but do usually have great benefits. The work varies, sometimes super cool sometimes not. It tends to be a mix of people REALLY into what they're working on and people who'd rather not be working at all riding a cushy gig.

Biotech/pharma pays better and if you like the domain can be really cool. The software isn't that much different than the rest of the world for the most part. In most places be prepared to be viewed as a second class citizen as the MDs and PhDs get top billing.

All this said i believe that the bio space is where to be as a software pro in Boston

[simonsarris]

> Boston doesn't seem to be doing very well in the long-term.

Can you expand on this?

[rpazyaquian]

I was going off of what the article said - not so much my own perception of the market.