> Do Developers Need to Become Managers to Make More Money?
50% said no. I think this is naive. We've had this discussion on HN before. Companies pay lip service to the idea that they have parallel tracks for management and engineering, but the reality of it is that it takes far more success to move up the engineering ladder.
You can be one of the very best engineers in your company, or one of many hundreds of senior managers, and make the same money. If you look at how many people are at each salary level, the higher you go, the worse the ratio gets of management to engineer.
If you want to get to the highest levels of the engineering ladder, you have to be one of the most well known engineers in the world. Or be a VP. It's not easy to be a VP, but there are far more VPs out there than Distinguished Engineers.
I think this is an example of developers taking questions quite literally: You don't need to become a manager, but many (myself included) would admit that it does help.
You also might want to take into account the age and seniority of most developers on the platform - for someone with <10 years of experience, it's likely that you absolutely have an avenue to make more money without becoming a manager.
That is fair. For many of the young developers who responded to the survey, they probably have a ways to go before they start hitting compensation walls.
Another aspect is autonomy. It is routine in most companies for a low level incompetent manager to be able to waste all the time and talent of a senior engineer. So the issue is more than just money.
This also depends on the country and its work culture.
For instance, a senior engineer can be valued and respected internally, and paid accordingly in the US. In a country like France, where technical talent means little (except for very rare and niche skills), engineers usually transition early to managing positions if they can.
50% said no. I think this is naive. We've had this discussion on HN before. Companies pay lip service to the idea that they have parallel tracks for management and engineering, but the reality of it is that it takes far more success to move up the engineering ladder.
You can be one of the very best engineers in your company, or one of many hundreds of senior managers, and make the same money. If you look at how many people are at each salary level, the higher you go, the worse the ratio gets of management to engineer.
If you want to get to the highest levels of the engineering ladder, you have to be one of the most well known engineers in the world. Or be a VP. It's not easy to be a VP, but there are far more VPs out there than Distinguished Engineers.