I am a recovering Cisco engineering Director. It is excessive and it isn't typically done at Cisco. I'll speak to the engineering organization since that's wha

I am a recovering Cisco engineering Director. It is excessive and it isn't typically done at Cisco. I'll speak to the engineering organization since that's what I know (reminder: Cisco is not organized by product at the top level, they are organized by function: engineer, sales, etc). A typical senior manager will have approximately 30 people under them: 3-4 managers with 7-10 employees each. A Directory rolls up 3-4 managers, a Senior Director 3-4 Directors, and a VP 5-10 Directors and Sr. Directors. A VP would typically have several hundred employees under them. Cisco is actually quite regimented about how it does this. Part of the yearly evaluation is (or was, when I was there ~ 3 years ago, not sure if it is still done this way) essentially "does this personal manage enough people to warrant their title". They will make exceptions and won't punish you explicitly if you don't, but it will be harder to compete for bonus and promotion dollars. They typically like for you to be managing beyond your level in terms of people before being promoted.