The only place where I think this doesn't apply is within an extremely specialized space. I think that very few engineers of that type are generally necessary,

The only place where I think this doesn't apply is within an extremely specialized space. I think that very few engineers of that type are generally necessary, though. At the same time, I'd imagine that if you do have the academic background for extreme specialization, you're probably going to be able to demand a pretty high paycheck.