[MattPalmer1086]

I'm not sure why you think that hiring less intelligent people will make a manager look good? Quite the contrary; less intelligent people make more mistakes that make you look bad, and need more hand holding, which is just more work.

It's certainly true that hiring managers won't want someone massively overqualified for a role, as they will simply be bored and will likely not stay.

But never seen anyone filter out someone suitable for a role because they seem more intelligent than them though.

[nicepplonly]

Humans are weird, and they don't behave how you might expect. But once you've lived for a while and seen it first hand many times, it starts to make sense in a weird way.

[MattPalmer1086]

I'm reporting my own experience from having lived for quite a long time, hired quite a lot of people and seen others doing it.

Not disputing that people can make odd decisions; just that I have never witnessed what the OP said.

[lobocinza]

Both can be right. Depends on the organization culture.