A top engineer for Big Tech asked for a demotion at the peak of his career.
Philip Su, who reached the prestigious “distinguished engineer” or IC9 level at Meta and OpenAI, said on “The Peterman Pod” podcast that promotions lost some of their shine as his career progressed.
“The thrill of the promotion itself was no longer the same as when I was younger,” Su told show host Ryan Peterman. “When I was younger, because I sought after those grades, those measurable metrics, I very much felt great every time I got promoted.”
By level seven, however, advancement no longer felt like an unqualified win.
“It wasn’t all roses to me anymore, the idea of…
