Companies promote incompetent employees to management to limit damage they do

Many engineers share anecdotes that feel straight out of Dilbert. A mediocre programmer or failing project lead gets “promoted” to a management or architect role. Sometimes these moves are less about recognizing leadership talent and more about getting a problematic person away from critical work. The result is counterproductive: you now have an incompetent manager and one fewer developer.

On a positive note, awareness of the Dilbert Principle has made some organizations more careful. Modern tech companies increasingly offer dual career tracks (technical vs. managerial) to avoid forcing great engineers into management.

When an underperforming employee can’t succeed in engineering, good companies try coaching or reassignment, and if all else fails, let them go rather than make them the boss.