As many others have said here: 20% of the people at these big companies are not just doing nothing, they are getting in the way and providing negative value to

As many others have said here: 20% of the people at these big companies are not just doing nothing, they are getting in the way and providing negative value to the 80% who come to work to honestly try and get something done. It is bad for the company and the industry to be paying these people high six figures to be useless. It is unpleasant to work with them (if you even notice they're there) because it makes your work seem pointless. If you asked the employees who the 20% were, I bet there would be consensus. They could be found and removed easily. It would also include plenty of managers and directors, it's not just leaf nodes who can be useless. But the big tech companies are absolutely terrified of being seen as talent-hostile by firing low performers. So instead they will "turn up the heat" and hope the problem solves itself. They will complain that their employees aren't working hard enough without giving them any reasons to work harder or removing any obstacles in their way. As leaders they should be ashamed for not owning and fixing this problem.