This is not what was meant by "low economic value". Selling software itself will become increasingly untenable. What software enables will become increasingly m

This is not what was meant by "low economic value". Selling software itself will become increasingly untenable. What software enables will become increasingly more valuable. Your metaphor that "you happen to sit on a scarce natural resource" is not apropos. That metaphor still treats software like an economic, rather than a strategic advantage. If you feel like you're being exploited like someone in a sweat labor shop, then you're obviously not leveraging this changing reality to your advantage. You're probably still working at a place that calls whatever you do "IT". It's time to leave that burning ship. You're better off looking for a startup that is writing a SAAS that competes with whatever your current employer is doing. Your work (assuming it is good) will at least be respected by your peers and the leadership. If software has not eaten the space that your employer occupies, it will soon.