There are pros and cons in academia and industry careers and it will be a decision of preference in lifestyle that the person would like to live. Some people start in academia and retire in the industry, while I have also seen people opt to leave the industry to work in academia. Some aspects to consider:

First, academia is research oriented while in the industry profit is the main driver. Companies often look for existing technology to reduce investment in research and development (driving costs down and profit up). This may become more of a routine over time leveraging existing technology and not as challenging for someone that prefers to do research discovering new technologies.

Second, the higher pay argument in industry career is a pro, although I believe it needs to be factored with other aspects such as the fast-paced deadline oriented highly competitive environment when comparing to academia. I personally enjoy working in the industry because of the type of environment, although some people may prefer to work in slower work pace environment. In addition, companies are always striving to become more “lean” which means employees are expected to do more with same resources. Combining a fast-pace competitive work environment with demands of lean company can become stressful.

Finally, tenure in academia may be seen as a pro, especially as company reorganization/ restructure and mergers are common and often result in lay-offs. The counterbalance is that there is high demand for qualified individuals in the medical device industry.