[matthias509]

So don’t let yourself get removed completely from the deliverables. Keep in there. Take some tickets off the queue and work them so your skills stay sharp. If you are worth your salt, this contribution will be noticed by other ICs on the team and your boss. Just realize that the IC role isn’t primary for you. Provide useful feedback in reviews to keep dumb stuff from happening. Make sure your team is working on the right things.

And yes, the PE contribution is harder to measure and the risk is there that others won’t see it. If you aren’t comfortable with that risk, then don’t go for the PE role.

Which is OK! It doesn’t have to be “up or out”. For me PE is as high as I want to go. I have no desire to deal with the stress and risk of moving up past PE.

I’ve also intentionally moved from a PE at my precious job back to being 100% IC in my current company and then a few years later back to PE where I am now. I did that to build up a slightly different, more marketable skill set.