I mostly found it notable that it's official enough for it to be an announced change in policy. At some places the "up or out" is more of an unofficial expectat

I mostly found it notable that it's official enough for it to be an announced change in policy. At some places the "up or out" is more of an unofficial expectation, but my understanding from Google friends is that Google literally announced to employees (around 2019 I think?) that it's ok to stay at L4 now and a promotion to L5 is no longer required to keep your job. At the time it was interpreted as a cost-saving measure, that they wanted to slow down promotion pressure to reduce salary growth. Would be curious if these terminal vs non-terminal levels are formalized at other places too? Given that L3 is basically entry-level at Google, it also suggests that they aren't doing much up-or-out anymore. Basically you only have to get promoted once?