I've been there and made the change.

One of my first jobs was QA at a big studio. I loved it to death. Made a ton of friends and thought i could make a carreer out of it. That was until the cuts. And in QA, you're the first to go.

At that point, i fell back on my IT degree and did jobs here and there, for the government and private enterprises.

I was litterally making twice the money in It then i was as a QA. But it fucking hated every minute of it.

Said goodbye, applied for another Studio QA position, took the paycut and i'm happy as ive ever been. Now i'm no longer a simple QA tester, but i have evolved into the more technical aspect of the job.

Still low as fuck pay, but i make it work.