Indeed. It seems, at least in America (I’m less familiar with the situation abroad) that computer science researchers who want to do longer-term work are getting squeezed. Less funding means fewer research positions in academia. Industry has many opportunities, especially in AI, but industry tends to favor shorter-term, product-focused research as opposed to longer-term work with fewer immediate prospects for productization. This is a great environment for many researchers, but researchers who want to work on longer-term, “blue-skies” projects might not find a suitable position in industry these days.

There are still opportunities, but they aren’t paid nearly as well as less researchy positions in industry. US post-doc salaries at state universities aren’t that high.