Quantum information science seems like something that will take many many years before it amounts to something.

I remember reading that a quantum revolution in computing was just around the corner 12 years (in 2007), and only a month ago has any sort of "breakthrough" happened (referring to Google's "quantum supremacy/breakthrough[0]").

Considering this glacial track record, I'm very skeptical.

[0] https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/29/20937930/google-quantu...

This is becoming less true. The field is still very PhD heavy, but some employers definitely hire people right out of an undergraduate Physics or ECE degree. They end up effectively completing a PhD program on the job, but don’t get the fancy title. On the bright side, they get paid probably 3-4x more than the average grad student stipend.

I think you’ll start to see more demand for non-PhDs as the various competing QIS players begin to standardize their architectures and practices.

Quantum computers seem to be barely out of the "we just invented a transistor" stage of development. No non-toy general purpose examples exist.