I mean... if you get your managers "from lots of different entry level areas", then you get exactly what you paid for. Any tech manager even remotely worth the

I mean... if you get your managers "from lots of different entry level areas", then you get exactly what you paid for. Any tech manager even remotely worth their salt should be able to function as a senior+ IC if necessary. If that skillset is lacking.. maybe you want to rethink your hiring. You'll likely never see the effect of a good manager if you don't. As for your argument that developer scarcity somehow makes managing worth less - the opposite. If you can hire a single person that can effectively give you 10+ devs without having to hire those 10+ devs, you want to hire that person. And for the "ICs need better raises, or they turn managers" - uh, no. But you do need to offer parallel development tracks, with comparable advancement opportunities. (In reality, IC & mgr raises should be roughly similar in terms of percentages. If you value managers, at least)