Wherever he goes his problems will follow him. The US won't be a utopia when it comes to hiring PhD's with sales skills either.

I can't think of a worse group of people to try and make do sales.

Good sales requires cultivating the right environment for good sales people. That means you need good pipeline. Sales people are blood-thirsty mercenaries who go wherever the most pipeline is so that they can maximize their personal income. They're short-term minded people who only care about results over the next quarter.

Ph.Ds are inherently delayed-gratification types of people. Salespeople are thrill-seekers (aka, always crash the sales department's parties if you want to have the best time).

"PhD's with sales skills..."

Sounds expensive.