better pay, better possibility of more pay in the future, and probably more interesting long term. The automotive industry is quite mature at this point, and therefore boring.

I could totally see myself going into cars, though, if I was born a century earlier. That would have been really interesting.

Better paying, fewer hassles, don't wear out your body as quickly.

I know a guy who was a superstar networking engineer in the 90s, who now is a wildlands firefighter. But it's not like he left all his problems behind in computing -- there are still politics and other workplace frustrations.

Computer gigs feel more productive... I can make a computer do much more work than I can. If successful I can effect the lives of many more people with software than with manual labor.