Forced manager back to IC?
Can this ever be considered normal and not forced? does a manager have to be really bad to have this happen? This guy seemed clueless and never seemed to understand the technical issues or impact of the things we (our team) were working on. This cluelessness probably directly translated to being unable to properly give updates to higher ups or contribute in discussions. I am guessing their choice was either to go back to IC or get fired. Why would they even give an option to go back to IC
Each circumstance is different and I’ve seen it happen both ways. Great IC’s don’t always make great managers. Some grow into the role, others hate it and go back, others are so horrible at it that they are made to go back to being an IC. A bad manager impact is much higher than a bad ic. With an ic you can give them low impact tickets.
They will get promoted to senior manager. Glorified TPM.
Newbie here, what is IC?
Individual contributor
Individual contributor - basically someone with no direct reports.
I heard Uber hiring bar is really high, how did they clear managerial interview in the first place?
don't want to dox with specifics but they were not a manager at their previous company. Maybe they were really well rehearsed during the interview but couldn't perform in the real world
Engineering managers often go back to ICs by choice. I’m switching from head of engineering to IC by choice. Being a manager is not fun, and the more senior you get, the less fun it is
Clueless and doesn’t understand technical issues sounds like par for the course for a manager.
People, across all roles and functions, often get promoted to a level one higher (or in this case different) than they are actually good at. Then they get stuck there and flail around and make things hard for others. I really love that some companies let you move out/down rather than just firing or leaving the company. Like others, I have certainly seen engineers voluntarily leave management positions because they wanted a change, more freedom, less meetings, etc. Even ones that were great managers. It’s a pretty crappy gig sometimes.
The Peter Principle
Manager would have shown interest to move as an IC. Management is a mentally exhausting cheer leader job. Going back to IC is not easy either. Requires different skill set and mindset.
Happened to a manager of mine once. Good riddance!