Yet even though design has been recognized as an imperative means of reaching the customer and therefore greatly impactive on the economic bottom line of manufacturing, designers have consistently ranked among the lower eschilon of personnel in pay.

I can only comment on American companies since I have no international experience, but the creatives (artists, Photographers, and digital artists, etc.) always rank among the lowest paid and receive the least amount of respect while engineers and IT staff are paid far more and more often included in high-level corporate meetings. Apple is obviously the exception and look at how they flourish.

Schools are ceasing to teach art and music, absolute foundation stones of creative thinking, in favor of math and science. This philosophy yields a workforce that can compute progress at a price of having no soul.