How do I deal with my work being invisible even though everything depends on it?

You can architect the systems that run all of people ops, and the resentment you feel is honest: the more essential your work, the less anyone sees it. When you build something that just works, people stop noticing it exists. Being the invisible foundation everything stands on is a lonely place, and the resentment is a fair response to real neglect. Still, be careful the resentment does not sour the pride you have earned. The invisibility is a strange kind of proof: things run so smoothly that no one has to think about them, and that smoothness is your doing. You know what you built and what would fall apart without it. Let that knowledge hold weight on its own, rather than waiting for a recognition that quiet, foundational work rarely attracts. Where you can, make the work a little more visible, not by boasting, but by showing the people above you what the systems prevent and enable. And on the days no one notices, name your own contribution to yourself plainly. The foundation deserves to know its own worth, even when the building forgets to look down.