On the other hand if your job is writing software for a widget company than it better be vital part of every widget. You don't want to be the guy that is made redundant because what they assumed was good work contributed nothing to the overall business.
A company managed this way is a company that will have little left but a sales and marketing force eventually, because the executive staff will have pruned everyone else as being redundant. Arguably, this could happen even in a shrinkwrapped software company, where the software isn't just a vital part of the business, it is the only part.
Hire someone incompetent, or see someone incompetent get hired above you, you may find you'll be made "redundant" even if you are the last developer hacking on the product. It is employment at the will of your employer, and nothing says they can't terminate you due to their own incompetence.
What matters is the value that your work delivers to the business. If you write software that consistently delivers value and has significantly positive impact, it should speak for you. If you work on unimportant projects with little or no benefit or impact to the company, it will not help you, and you should also wonder why you're wasting your time on it anyways. Certainly when it comes time for the business to execute cost-cutting measures like in times like these, they will wonder why.
Then there's politics which can render all of the above moot. It's unfortunate, but that's how humanity rolls. If you work in a large company and wonder how some totally useless and unimportant projects that cost the business money hand over fist manage to survive even during tough times like these, well, now you know why.