I'll grant you that. If times get hard future revenue generation can often be sacrificed to make sure that the business can get through the "now" part. I think I'd likely look at that as a blessing, if things are going downhill for everyone at least you're lucky enough to know and get out early.
Also, I should mention that in my case the research generated is often used as an intelligence source for the current products. In the early days of my career my teams research resulted in a constant stream of snort rules, vulnerability discoveries, and bypass techniques that often made their way into the products/services of the company. Those 2-3 times a week updates being pushed down to client devices were a big part of the perceived value that the customers received.
Modern software and service driven models mean that there doesn't have to be much of a gap between research and deployment.
Also, I should mention that in my case the research generated is often used as an intelligence source for the current products. In the early days of my career my teams research resulted in a constant stream of snort rules, vulnerability discoveries, and bypass techniques that often made their way into the products/services of the company. Those 2-3 times a week updates being pushed down to client devices were a big part of the perceived value that the customers received.
Modern software and service driven models mean that there doesn't have to be much of a gap between research and deployment.