I don't think this debate is as complicated. There are a certain set of things you can do with the knowledge outlined above. And there is a certain set of thin

I don't think this debate is as complicated. There are a certain set of things you can do with the knowledge outlined above. And there is a certain set of things that you can do with semi-advanced or advanced algorithmic knowledge, knowing how the cache works, knowing how distributed algorithms work and so on. Some companies don't need the latter. Some companies do. The latter companies do want to hire someone who can do both, and not be stuck to a special set of tasks that they can do i.e. they want a generalist who can be assigned to any project of varying complexity. Personally speaking, many of the tasks I do don't involve the algorithmic skill set. But some do - now without that skill set would I just outsource it to the "brighter" folks in my company or would the company just prefer that everyone who they hire know that stuff ?