[brian_cunnie]

> ... they're still in the running for subordinate positions

I think that statement does a disservice to being a software engineer, and is off the mark as well.

At my company (VMware), I know at least one Senior Director and three other Directors (Matthew K., David S., Rajan A., and Ryan R.)who abdicated their managerial role in favor of being an individual contributor for the simple reason that it was much more enjoyable, not because they're "embittered" or "anti-authoritarian".

For a more high-profile example, Mitch Hashimoto of Hashicorp went back to being an indicvidual contributor.

And, on a personal note, I'm 58 & I love engineering — it's fun. I like software, and I'm happy being a developer. I don't think I'd enjoy being a manager, and am not interested in finding out.

[jeffbee]

We are very lucky to be in an industry where being a manager is recognized as a different job instead of a superior promotion from individual contributor. There still are, of course, software companies that expect to promote ICs to managers, but in this job market you can simply leave those companies.

[kevinpet]

I think we're getting there. One big reason everyone assumes tech workers are all young is because tech has been growing so rapidly. I expect to be one of the old farts in a few years because it's still growing. The next generation might find that they have a more mixed workforce, where when they come into a company most of their coworkers are substantially older than them, as most office jobs were for most people for most of history.