Ask HN: What is hiring like in industry research labs?

Companies like Microsoft, Google, HP etc have labs that employ Phds. I had a few questions regarding them.

1) What does it take to land a research scientist position in one of these places? Do you have to be exceptional?

2) Do they exclusively hire Phds?

3) I read somewhere that 57% of Phds end up in industry. Does that 57% mostly comprise of these scientist positions? Do a significant number end up in jobs that don't require advanced degrees?