The author could have played this completely differently. Instead of thinking of himself as being surrounded by idiots, he could think of himself as a fox in the hen house.

Put it another way. He's the only person in the organization who knows what they're doing when it comes to testing. He's in a position where he can have a tremendous positive effect on his organization. If instead of complaining that his fellow testers are incompetent, he could bring a benefit to the organization and pocket part of it.

Here's the script: "Hello Mr. Suit. Notice how I've discovered ten times as many bugs as my compatriots combined in the same amount of time. Why don't you fire ten of them and bump me up to fifty an hour. You'll be saving ninety dollars an hour at the cost of an extra forty-one going to me." Every business-minded manager would at least consider this. Naturally the numbers need to be adjusted, but anyone with a significantly higher output than their colleagues has the opportunity to make this sort of case.

Here's another potential script: "Lemme level with you, Mr. Suit, these guys are all kids who like playing games, while I've got years of experience as a professional tester under my belt. Why don't you replace their manager with me, and I'll train them myself. Ill whip them into shape, their overall bug detection rate will double, and you won't have to pay a penny. Just replace their ineffective manager with me."

Lesson learned: this situation isn't cause for bitching and moaning, it's an opportunity to cut throats.