If you pretend simple economics is best representation of reality then this blog post is exactly on point, in a perfectly efficient market the value you earn for others is proportional to the profit you get in return and both are proportional to the good you do in the world.
Simple economics are not the best representation of reality.
For many pride in one's work can matter more than pay, the engineering profession attracts some of the most passionate do-gooders (Gates to name a famous example) who care about the world improving. They aren't usually recognized for it because they try to improve the world by fixing the systems rather than flying to a 3rd world country and building a house.
Additionally, in reality but not in simple economics, there is a huge gap in value-generated for the company and perceived-value-generated for the company. In fact, there can be situations where the two are negatively correlated and the engineer knows best.
Finally let's remember that short-term value to the company isn't the end-all-be-all. Did you know Zynga had some individual users who spent over 100 grand on virtual items? Great companies often arise by ignoring the short-term-profit and focusing on delivering a great product with a great experience, even if the market for it doesn't exist yet (i.e. what google did)
Simple economics are not the best representation of reality.
For many pride in one's work can matter more than pay, the engineering profession attracts some of the most passionate do-gooders (Gates to name a famous example) who care about the world improving. They aren't usually recognized for it because they try to improve the world by fixing the systems rather than flying to a 3rd world country and building a house.
Additionally, in reality but not in simple economics, there is a huge gap in value-generated for the company and perceived-value-generated for the company. In fact, there can be situations where the two are negatively correlated and the engineer knows best.
Finally let's remember that short-term value to the company isn't the end-all-be-all. Did you know Zynga had some individual users who spent over 100 grand on virtual items? Great companies often arise by ignoring the short-term-profit and focusing on delivering a great product with a great experience, even if the market for it doesn't exist yet (i.e. what google did)