Not sure why I was downvoted, it’s absolutely true. SDE is not a meritocracy.

If you're concerned about your downvotes perhaps you can give us your theory of how it works.

Compensation is decided by a hierarchy of managers, with each manager giving his subordinates a budget to compensate his subordinate managers, trickling down layer-by-layer to the peons.

If your manager's manager's manager is awesome at self-promotion, you'll make more money.

The End

unfortunately, self-promotion matters a lot, sometimes. Shitty or competitive places will require it.

^ This guy reads the Dictator's Handbook.

You're downvoted because you post a shallow dismissal. Look it up in the guidelines, link at the bottom of the page.