I've almost done my masters - I finished all the courses, but did not submit my graduate thesis in time - so I have what we call "absolutorium", i.e. finished the program without pursuing a degree. The other day, a friend from my alma mater wanted me to come and do a semester of programming classes as an "industry consultant". It was all arranged properly and I was getting ready with my lectures when, few weeks before I was supposed to give the first one, I became a political point in inter-faculty negotiations. People from one of the other faculties argued it's disrespectful to allow someone with mere BSc to teach students. Ultimately, my faculty had to let me go.

So yeah, that's the kind of bullshit that having an academic title may help you navigate. Whether or not it is worth the effort to get one is arguable, though.

I don't think he's published a paper as a first author. He's about to now, but his advisor is not happy with it and has made it clear his work on that paper is not sufficient. His advisor is sending all sorts of signals that he has given up on him - he often ignores his emails for requests to meet, etc. And he's expressed displeasure about his progress several times. The University will require his advisor's signature every semester because he has gone beyond the university's deadlines for a PhD.

He's a very smart guy and is good at software (his PhD is not CS, though). He can get a good job with a decent (or even top) company. He is almost 40 years old. Oh, and on top of all that, given how his research is going, there's a good chance no one will hire him for his research work even if he gets a PhD.

I asked him "Why not quit and get a job?"

Him: "Man, I put so much time into it and I'll feel all that time would have gone to waste. And please don't talk to me about sunk cost!"

Me: "Did you every consider that you will finish the PhD, and then end up asking yourself why you wasted so much time pursuing it?"

I've been in his shoes, and I quit my PhD as well (although spent a few years less than he did in school). Then I went to industry and saw the types of jobs I would have gotten if I had completed. Although they paid better, I would have hated those jobs. As for the time I spent in grad school? How could it possibly be a waste? I went because I had a passion for the topic, and I learned a lot while there. You don't lose all that knowledge and experience when you quit.