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When I joined Google my TL was an L6 on the engineering track, 10 years ago. My vague memory of the engineering ladder when I joined went up to L9.

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Terminal level generally indicates a glass ceiling that most folks can't rise above. Senior and Staff are generally terminal levels for the rest of the industry.

s/can’t/aren’t ”expected” to/

I would bias towards can't for these reasons:

- Organizations are very bad at promoting

- Retroactive pay scale adjustments are rare

- Promotion requires tenure and often companies don't align incentives towards tenure

"Terminal level" doesn't mean the highest level.

Interesting! I don't think I'd seen the term before, but it does seem standard: https://rachelbythebay.com/w/2018/04/23/pace/

With that usage, the point at which the company stops being "up or out", it was L5 when I joined, and L4 when I left.

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