Yes, this. So then those young brilliant individuals move into management because it's the only way to continue some semblance of career progression in your 30s.

Then a subset of the gifted technical individuals grow tired of management, step down and go back to the tech to do what they really loved all along.

I've met a fair amount of brilliant engineers in their 40s/50s who have been through management and decided it's not for them and are now shining as engineers again after a decade lost to leadership roles