[ser0]

At this point in time, I would say yes. The start of a PhD teaches you a lot of useful research skills. However, the academic/research environment do not necessarily put them to good use.

This can lead people, such as myself, to investigate the value of a PhD itself and find that the career prospects, financial rewards, and even intellectual rewards, are difficult to align/justify.

I think that a reasonable conclusion is indeed that switching fields would generally be a good move, unless you know yourself to be an outstanding researcher within your field of expertise.