Great co-workers, poor middle management - Avis employé Senior Design Engineer AMD

Some very poor managerial skills in certain teams (middle management). No team building events or any importance assigned to such things. Management shows poor understanding of the fact that sustained high-pressure work environments can be demotivating, especially when zero-promotions/zero-merit-raises/pay-cuts are enforced. People who 'make' themselves visible just by speaking a lot in meetings and emails seem to benefit disproportionately (by impressing middle management) than those who make real contributions. This is another sign of technically incompetent middle management and demoralizing.