I have a PhD and work at a top CS research lab. Been there for almost 7 years. I feel like a peon .. I have 3 people who tell me what to do. I have to work with people from every time zone and who don't speak proper English and have thick accents. I am not a native speaker btw. The old days of monopoly sponsored research are gone. The new reality sucks. Things aren't a whole lot better in academia from the people I have spoken to. Oh ... and I make low six figures in the US. It is better to just become a programmer.