It's really sad how people care much more about how you flap your gums at them than what you can do for them. Who cares if your pipes are burst, let's talk about it rather than actually fixing the damn thing! Who cares if it's dark, let's talk about light bulbs rather than install some!
What I wanted was to progress my career based on my skillset. However, without 'people skills' it's impossible to progress in any large organisation.
These days, I stick to contracting. Zero people skills required, and I can avoid all the office bullsh*t without issue.