[JoeAltmaier]

The customer pays the company for some perceived value. It may not even be real. But given that it is, the Engineer may contribute to the process, or the testing, or the coding. Which are useless to the customer and not even perceptible. Consider: if the same product were delivered without testing, would testing be valueless?

No, its the whole enchilada that the customer pays for. The Engineer is a part of the product but so is the guy on the loading dock, and in the mail room, and sweeping the floors.

No we have to look elsewhere for compensation justification. This religion (born out of the Agile process?) that only work contributing to customer needs has 'value' has got to go. Its false on the face of it.