Probably because there's a substantial minority of hardware engineers here for whom IC designer is a very specific job title. I have worked at and worth severa

Probably because there's a substantial minority of hardware engineers here for whom IC designer is a very specific job title. I have worked at and worth several companies which purport to have this parallel track. In practice there seems to be much less need for senior engineering and much more need for senior management. There may exist a parallel track but there aren't many positions on that track.