[kokey]

I think in some countries, cultures and industries there's some kind of legacy class system where only people of the managerial class can share in the spoils of the company, so the only way to reward a competent and skilled employee with an income above a certain level is to make them a manager, while it's also assumed that's what the employee is also striving for. I see this in various engineering industries in developing countries, where in the same country no one thinks that a specialist surgeon can only be rewarded by being given the job of hospital manager.

[Clubber]

That certainly fits what I see. Managers are a separate class in larger companies, similar to officers vs. enlisted in the military.