Then they're in a "real" industry. How many of them are actually doing that?

I was recently interviewing for a lot of jobs (20 or more) and most of them were in “real” industries. Making factories more efficient, improving logistics, tools for various laboratory facilities to work more consistently and efficiently, etc.

Around 75% of what I encountered touched real products, workers, and production directly.

It seems like there is plenty of that kind of tech out there and in development right now.

The other 4 or 5 companies were strictly internet related, selling digital products to people doing things on computers.

I’m not sure if I encountered that because that’s a reasonable representation of what’s out there right now. I do know I prefer work where I get to support real people doing real things, so to speak. In any case, there are definitely roles like this out there and plenty of companies hiring.