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In my opinion, that is still fair. IC is a much more rewarding and enjoyable job for many, so it seems reasonable that there would be a lot more competition for
by mmmmmbop 3y ago
In my opinion, that is still fair. IC is a much more rewarding and enjoyable job for many, so it seems reasonable that there would be a lot more competition for the high-level IC positions.
If you're willing to put up with the organizational bullshit and politics, there's usually nothing stopping you from becoming a manager at those tech companies.
The "dual track" concept is already a significant improvement over "traditional" companies where the IC ladder usually stops short of the first level of management.
- dougmwne 3y agoI would suggest that lots of people don’t think like you or share your values. Lots of people would rather spend the day talking and basking in the attention and respect that comes with their position.
- mmmmmbop 3y agoThat may be true. My impression was that people switch over to the management chain because it's easier to climb the ladder there, not because they inherently enjoy it more. FWIW, in FAANG, I've seen high-level ICs to be much more respected than equal-level managers.
- red_trumpet 3y agoThat argument is sound if there are as many IC VPs as there are management VPs. Otherwise it looks like a convenient lie.
- mmmmmbop 3y agoIt's very difficult for an IC to achieve the same impact as a management VP commandeering thousands of engineers.
- zeroonetwothree 3y agoI would argue the average VP has negative to zero marginal impact. You could replace them with another random person and achieve similar results. Of course there are exceptional cases but my experience has been that most essentially just meddle with things they don’t understand or cause excessive churn by wanting to seem to be doing something.
- eptcyka 3y agoYes, because job A is more enjoyable than job B, we should expect people to toil more for less reward, and have higher expectations of those who do job A.
- mmmmmbop 3y agoI'm not saying it's the way it should be, but in practice, that's what it is in capitalism. Just look at comedians, musicians, artists, or teachers.