Do you still see engineers being promoted to EM in 2026? I don't. You have companies like Amazon, Meta, and Square saying that managers are no longer required and everyone should report to the CEO: because we're seeing the end of teams and collaboration and a new preference for individual silos of developers managing "agents" who do all the work. The entire industry is being dehumanized and depopulated. What's more, every open role for EM now specifies that managers must be hands-on and contributing to the code at a high level even if they have 15 or mpre reports. It makes no sense. One by one, every CEO is succumbing to AI psychosis. What can we do?
So I wouldn't actually view senior IC positions such as TL / Staff to EM promotion. It's a different role, and it's like starting as a junior again with the skillset you need.
I firmly believe the need for engineering managers, especially human soft skill-focused EMs, will be prevalent and never go away because as we move to a more robotic and predictable way of engineering, we will need the EMs to keep the humanity in our organisations now more than ever.
Also im not seeing the same thing in job posts, a lot of them are sure, but still healthy number of growing em roles that need technicality but not hands on.
I agree, but promotion was the word you used several times, eg "The engineers getting promoted in 2026 aren’t better coders than the ones who aren’t."
Anyway, I agree with you, but my point is, I don't think most CEOs or CTOs agree with us. A lot of them are on record saying they don't believe management is necessary anymore. Amazon made a big deal of gutting management recently. There's also this growing idea that we'll only be managing agents in thr future, not humans.
I want your version of reality but I fear that things are getting weird and maybe you're not aware of it?
Yeah, promoted along the IC path is more the angle here.
I think a lot of what they say they have to for short term share prices, from the big companies. I normally try to sway away from sensationalism which a lot of this is.
It's going to change a lot, definitely, but 99% of what people say is sensationalist to grab headlines and attention. History is never written the way early headlines predict.
Do you still see engineers being promoted to EM in 2026? I don't. You have companies like Amazon, Meta, and Square saying that managers are no longer required and everyone should report to the CEO: because we're seeing the end of teams and collaboration and a new preference for individual silos of developers managing "agents" who do all the work. The entire industry is being dehumanized and depopulated. What's more, every open role for EM now specifies that managers must be hands-on and contributing to the code at a high level even if they have 15 or mpre reports. It makes no sense. One by one, every CEO is succumbing to AI psychosis. What can we do?
So I wouldn't actually view senior IC positions such as TL / Staff to EM promotion. It's a different role, and it's like starting as a junior again with the skillset you need.
I firmly believe the need for engineering managers, especially human soft skill-focused EMs, will be prevalent and never go away because as we move to a more robotic and predictable way of engineering, we will need the EMs to keep the humanity in our organisations now more than ever.
Also im not seeing the same thing in job posts, a lot of them are sure, but still healthy number of growing em roles that need technicality but not hands on.
I agree, but promotion was the word you used several times, eg "The engineers getting promoted in 2026 aren’t better coders than the ones who aren’t."
Anyway, I agree with you, but my point is, I don't think most CEOs or CTOs agree with us. A lot of them are on record saying they don't believe management is necessary anymore. Amazon made a big deal of gutting management recently. There's also this growing idea that we'll only be managing agents in thr future, not humans.
I want your version of reality but I fear that things are getting weird and maybe you're not aware of it?
Yeah, promoted along the IC path is more the angle here.
I think a lot of what they say they have to for short term share prices, from the big companies. I normally try to sway away from sensationalism which a lot of this is.
It's going to change a lot, definitely, but 99% of what people say is sensationalist to grab headlines and attention. History is never written the way early headlines predict.
Speak of the devik: Gitlab just announced they're deleting 3 layers of management 🫠 https://about.gitlab.com/blog/gitlab-act-2/
Liking this comment felt a bit weird haha. I like your info but not the news if that makes sense
100%
Hopefully you're right. It's hard to listen to it all and it seems to be getting louder.