Google has eliminated 35% of managers overseeing small teams in past year

can someone with experience doing this shine some light? i have been offered this type of role from engineer to 50/50 (as i feel it) or 80/20 (as they say) IC and managing. in a series C startup. i feel like it’s never good to context switch. i never seen a tech lead or manager who did well both roles at once. am i crazy to think that the tech lead or manager role should be 100%? either go the IC track or the manager track. but i lack evidence to substantiate this idea of mine.

I’m in this position now. The longer I’ve been in it, I’ve come to realize can be summarized as:

You experience some the benefits of being a manager but bear all the responsibilities of managing others. It becomes challenging to make sound judgments when you must consider two different perspectives of a problem. Essentially, you’re taking on the duties of two jobs. I’ve found it incredibly difficult to step back and allow the team to make decisions without my input. My technical bias compels me to intervene when I perceive a decision as clearly incorrect. However, this approach hinders growth and may be perceived as micromanagement. While it’s a challenging position, it’s an excellent opportunity to explore management and determine if it’s a long-term career path you’re interested in.

At early startups where people are focused on building and you have self motivated, mostly senior+ engineers or hands-on founder types, the 80/20 thing can work. The problems happen when you bring in a lot of other roles, less experienced folks, and more and more distractions build up. The 80% will become more like 30%.