There are two kinds of laziness. Rank laziness (aka "goldbricking", to use an outdated term) doesn't really have much use. But there's also virtuous laziness, which is the desire to do work in the most efficient way possible. People who work like that often tend to be assets because they invent all of the stuff that leads to everything running smoothly and with a minimal amount of effort.

Yes, they are supposed to be taken seriously. Lazy sysadmins are the best sysadmins - I'm sure the same is true of programmers.

Note that "lazy" does not mean "does not want to work". As per the linked article, in this context it means:

"The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce overall energy expenditure. It makes you write labor-saving programs that other people will find useful, and document what you wrote so you don't have to answer so many questions about it. Hence, the first great virtue of a programmer."