[astrange]

I think that would encourage not getting raises.

You need some kind of title so people can feel responsible for career growth and so you can calibrate against other companies' pay at least; it doesn't need to control what kind of work you're allowed to do.

[ghaff]

Even if they don't transition to managing people, someone in an individual contributor role presumably needs to be growing in some way if they want to get raises. While someone doing something valuable even without growing will probably continue to get small raises anyway, it's not the ideal path.

And, as you say, to the degree that position titles mean something cross-company, it gives a point of comparison.