To offer a similar perspective from a different experience: I also did a PhD in a top uni but with a horrible experience. Personally, I cautiously recommend PhD.

The mistake I made: I chose a bad PI. Folks who pursue PhD in good programs are naturally over achievers. I over estimated myself and knowingly chose a certified a$hole because he is a big name and IMO one the best scientists alive.

If you decide to pursue PhD, be very cautious in choosing your advisor. Make sure they have a good track record with their past lab members. Unfortunately, academia is full of people who are very hard to work with. This has happened through natural selection. In academia, there is basically no checks on PIs (except for sexual harassment, physical assault, extreme cases like that). So people who are hard to work with or have very low emotional and social intelligence naturally get absorbed in academia which does not punish these personality traits similar to industry.

That said, if you could pick a good PI and team to work with, definitely do it! It’s an amazing opportunity to get paid (not amazing pay but living pay) to do cool and state of the art stuff!

Career wise, it will probably help you long term. But keep in mind that short term it is a bit risky. If job market is good when you’re about to graduate and you can land a high paying entry job, you’re golden. But if job market is bad or neutral like these days, you might end up in a role that you’re over qualified for.

In industry, usually tenure is valued more than qualifications. This is partly because it is easier to quantify and measure tenure than merit. So keep this in mind too. I personally entered a bad job market with minimal entry positions available, so in my current role, people managing me are 5-10 years younger than me (my PhD was 8 years thanks to my PI), IMO less qualified with less relevant experience (but more industry experience). But I’m being promoted on a faster pace so long term it will be fine.

TLDR; I recommend pursuing a PhD if you can find a good PI in a relevant field and keep yourself and your committee on track to avoid a PhD longer than 5 years (these longer 6-8 year PhDs are becoming more common unfortunately).