Like goatinaboat said above, some companies are legendary enough to attract top talent through the sheer force of their reputation. Netflix seems to be one of t

Like goatinaboat said above, some companies are legendary enough to attract top talent through the sheer force of their reputation. Netflix seems to be one of those places. So they can get away with it. They also pay engineers extremly well. Netflix also has an intense culture that the industry recognizes. While they may not have 'ladders' they certainly compensate well. When a Netflix engineer considers leaving, I imagine they look at roles that have a total compensation similar to or above their current compensation. Ladders can sometimes just be a proxy for compensation as a means of organizing (or rating) individuals relative to one another. Netflix is one of the exceptions in my book.