People get compensated for the degree of influence they exert over their employer / the potential value they bring to the table. That is the same for soccer pl

People get compensated for the degree of influence they exert over their employer / the potential value they bring to the table. That is the same for soccer player, only: they are more talented and sought after than you or me. “What would engineers get done without assembly line workers” - well, for starters, let me give you a bit of an update how the world is now working for the young generation in Germany: - Your Dad or uncle works at Adi or BW and is a union member: great! There is a field in the application that specifically asks whether you have family members and to list them. Assembly line unions for traditional reasons exert an insane amount of power over the companies in Germany - that means: they just dictate that the salary of an assembly line worker is just insane; that no workforce reductions (automation anyone?) are made; guess who gets the apprenticeship position at 16/17 because of his outstanding grades, abilities and well, his Dad is a local union representative... 2000 applications, 50 spots, be SURE that every single one has a family member backing them. Has nothing to do with performance... Now, there isn’t exactly a similar union concept for engineers and those uni graduates probably take a greater deal of pride in finding a job than having their Dad harass HR. So the funny fact is: you are right that the reason to be compensated based on your performance is laudable but unrealistic - but the ONLY times I found this to be completely off limits was with those “family relationship union assembly line workers”.