"I actually think for most of us, after some point, switching to engineering manager track is often far easier to continue leveling up in. Most good companies have an equivalent tech track, but unless the stars are aligned and you're blessed with a supportive manager AND the right project that align with your talents, its going to take a much longer time progressing.
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That's a really important point. In theory my company has a technical track but it's freakishly difficult to move up on it. On the other hand I see a lot of mediocre managers moving up higher on the pay scale all the time.
My company has a tech track but NO developers are on it. It’s basically designed so that nobody can ever qualify for it. As far as I can see it’s purely there to entice developers and then push the blame back on them when they inevitably have to turn into managers - “look, you COULD have been on the tech track if you tried harder, you made the choice to progress on the management track.”
I think one thing is that in a lot of companies there still is the belief that your pay is determined by the number of people you have under you and that a manager always has to make more than than the people they manage.
Surely it’s insane economics for the company though. My management skills must be almost useless (and I’m considered an ok manager) compared to my dev skills. I can’t understand what’s in it for the company to make EVERYONE into crap managers AND pay them more AND make them unhappy AND ensure that only inexperienced juniors have time to actually do work. Just don’t get it. But every company wants to do it.
That's a really important point. In theory my company has a technical track but it's freakishly difficult to move up on it. On the other hand I see a lot of mediocre managers moving up higher on the pay scale all the time.