Bell Labs is a special case (afaik). My father worked for Western Electric (and I actually did a couple summer internships there). In any case, BL / WE had a sp

Bell Labs is a special case (afaik). My father worked for Western Electric (and I actually did a couple summer internships there). In any case, BL / WE had a special rank and pay structure. They understood they had talent that was more valuable not as management. I don't remember the details but do remember there being certain "heavy weights" that didn't have anyone under them.