[itake]

The problem is how many jobs are there for engineers with 20 years of experience? This is related not not directly to pay.

You’d drop your experience because:

1/ very few roles.

2/ skills don’t match experience. If you’re not at principle level, this could be a flag.

[piva00]

2. is a bias we should avoid, going up from senior level is a choice, not a requirement or expectation. There are engineers who aren't attracted by the work at staff/principal level and it doesn't mean anything on their technical abilities to perform as an experienced senior.

This up-or-out worldview is not helpful, by definition there won't be enough spots in most companies for seniors to progress to staff, even less to principal, the funnel gets quite restricted there.