[zdragnar]

If it's the same story as most other fields, the related jobs available require either:

1) No phd, because those either command a high salary, or are likely to jump ship for higher pay as soon as they meet qualification 2:

2) A phd and previous experience, because the job can't be trusted to someone fresh out of school without practical experience.

That was more or less the story from all of my circa 2008 friends who graduated with bio/chem engineering type degrees, trying to decide between grad school or entering industry, at least...