But its a question not of how much value the employee generates, but how rare is that employees work that they deserve to be compensated highly. i.e, could you

But its a question not of how much value the employee generates, but how rare is that employees work that they deserve to be compensated highly. i.e, could you get someone of the same ability for less. Consider the reality shows The Voice, America's Got Talent, game shows etc., that generate millions of dollars of revenue for the studios. But the people who are performing the acts, aren't compensated highly (unless they "win"). Frankly I think that many of these highly paid SWEs are really not worth what they are paid, and that many people could be doing their jobs. I think this is part of the reason of my struggles in the job market since being laid off in June. There has become an obsession that if you're not in the "top 1% of SDEs", you are in essence, worthless and shouldn't be hired.