I was a research engineer for ~10 years, and my experience was that my immediate colleagues were very appreciative of the work I was doing, but that the univers

I was a research engineer for ~10 years, and my experience was that my immediate colleagues were very appreciative of the work I was doing, but that the university bureaucracy system is not. In the beginning it is a very decent position (compared to a PhD); less load and better pay, and lots of autonomy. However, it is a dead end for your career, there is no promotion path. I liked working as a RSE a lot, but indeed moving to the industry will give you a huge salary rise and a career path.