They will say that you did a good job fixing the issue but most mid level managers won't give you a bonus for that. In fact, in the next breath, they will criti

They will say that you did a good job fixing the issue but most mid level managers won't give you a bonus for that. In fact, in the next breath, they will criticize you for not putting in enough effort into introducing new tech. Fixing the problem is an opportunity cost. The only exception I have seen to the above is if you catch the eye of top level engineering management by your actions. I have seen major problems lingering for years because management's actions have shown that they don't value problems being fixed. Furthermore, when bugs become a priority, the metrics they care about are bug fix time. You are better off not being associated with a difficult bug because it lowers your close rate and lengthens your average time to close bugs. Perverse incentives.