This is actually a very accurate depiction of what is happening to the industry. Not too many problems left to solve, so the investors are desperate to fund any

This is actually a very accurate depiction of what is happening to the industry. Not too many problems left to solve, so the investors are desperate to fund anyone who can put up a great show and sound convincing. Now a part of this great show would be hiring a great team without actually having a problem to solve, so here you go. The credentials in most cases simply make a difference between doing close to nothing for $300K/year vs. doing the same thing at a less fancy company for $80K/year. Since what you do isn't actually important anymore, your skill or intellectual abilities aren't valued as high. If you don't want to be a part of the bullshit show, you've got to learn to distinguish between problem-driven projects and show-driven projects. The former are scarce, and the latter are intentionally disguised to pass for the real thing, but unless you learn to see the difference, you'll be stuck in a rather depressive loop of being a prized trophy sitting on a shelf. My bet is that the COVID-19 pandemic will bring enormous attention to biomedical research, vaccine development, immunology, etc. New discoveries will be made, that would also apply to many less critical conditions. Of course, there will be a fair share of Theranos-like scams, so have your bullshit detector up and running.