I don't think this is the case. I think most engineering teams will have a "backlog" of tech debt. Some are things they want to do (the original implementation

I don't think this is the case. I think most engineering teams will have a "backlog" of tech debt. Some are things they want to do (the original implementation is icky but could be lived with for years until requirements change) and some will save the team hours per week in distractions/maintenance. Being able to evaluate the actual impact of the "tech debt clean-up" and pick the one which helps the business will absolutely set you apart from your peers.