+1 to all that. :) Seems to me that being a senior IC comes with risk of (1) having to take part in political BS, (2) rat-race of being compared to aggressively-climbing-the-ladder peers (if in an org that does that kind of performance nonsense), (3) not having enough time to both keep on top of tech and lead/mentor others / get scope-creeped into doing the job of a manager for non-manager pay. Therefore to me it can be a poison chalice. Instead, one can stay as a mid-level, and do it really well especially if one has a lot of years experience, and be seen as a helpful nice coworker without having to do X hours of mentoring a week to meet some kind of bar. And be less stressed, have more time for family, etc. I think the mid-levels who could've been a senior might be the savvy ones. This will probably of course, come at the expense of lower immediate salary. Long term however this may increase career longevity , more time to learn, less burn-out etc, thus salary hit is less than expected. It might be like investing your pension in a safe utility stock or something, you'll never get rich, but you'll be fine and not have to worry. :) As regards grumpy old men, from what I see its the seniors and architects that are stressed and grumpy, while I get to crank out code happily. ;) Maybe if you're grumpy, going back to mid-level is the cure? ;).