In every organization there are people who are determined to do only as much as they're paid to do, anything that stretches beyond their job description is done haphazardly, in the short-term it sounds like a smart move, it clearly optimises your time and gives you the exact value for your time that you negotiated for.
Sadly even in software engineering these people exist and because projects are done in teams it's much harder to fish them out (if you're not a software engineer yourself). These slackers hardly grow and the short term benefit doesn't work for them because in this industry a lot of projects and/or opportunities you get will come through referrals, nobody refers a slacker.
The industry is also rather demanding as you need to show proof that you've been able to handle a particular responsibility before you're handed that responsibility, stooping to conquer is sometimes a must, it isn't uncommon to see software engineers work for free on some projects or pay for access to some projects, opportunities or events that will help them acquire the skill they have in mind.
You need to be purposeful about what you want, people who associate with you ought to know what you're about and what you want, this is one of the things that will earn you referrals.