[Natsu]

Yes, definitely. In systems administration, too, you become less valuable the better you are at your job. People only value "firefighting" and so the people who set up systems that don't need constant maintenance are penalized, while those who constantly make trouble are rewarded for their "heroics" ... even if they caused the problems to begin with.

Upper management neither knows nor cares to be informed, sadly.

[roqetman]

You're certainly correct there, but they only value "firefighting" for a brief moment too. Unless you've been firefighting directly for upper management - they'll forget, or not even know of your effort shortly after it happens. You're only likely to get rewarded for efficiency in smaller companies where the management has enough technical knowledge to appreciate your efficiency.