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Life gets in the way for a while: Kids. Spouse/partner. House. Hobbies. Cynicism. Burnout. Health. Elder care. Then things settle. You work through

• ryandrake 8y ago
  All of the above, plus, at most (non-FAANG) tech companies, as an individual contributor your salary will plateau when you’re around 30-35. During your 20s you’ll get used to double digit pay raises and then all of a sudden that will stop. Even changing jobs won’t give you more than a 1-2% bump as some point. I’ve had that surreal “we really want you to stay but we can’t give you a raise” conversation too many times in my career.
  • SimonPStevens 8y ago
    Yes, this. So then those young brilliant individuals move into management because it's the only way to continue some semblance of career progression in your 30s. Then a subset of the gifted technical individuals grow tired of management, step down and go back to the tech to do what they really loved all along. I've met a fair amount of brilliant engineers in their 40s/50s who have been through management and decided it's not for them and are now shining as engineers again after a decade lost to leadership roles
• imhoguy 8y ago
  I would also add massive family debt/mortgage to this list. I saw so many star engineers fear-driven and stagnating in their tiny comfort zones to the burn-out or layoff.