Does this article mean an engineer at the same comp level as a director or something else?
When pondering the expectations of an engineer at your organization, consider the expectations of a manager at the same level and how many engineers vs managers there are at that level in your company.
At large tech companies like Amazon (and possibly Microsoft), you'll find that managers reach higher levels significantly faster and in higher numbers, maybe because of unbalanced expectations of engineers at the same levels compared with other roles.
When pondering the expectations of an engineer at your organization, consider the expectations of a manager at the same level and how many engineers vs managers there are at that level in your company.
At large tech companies like Amazon (and possibly Microsoft), you'll find that managers reach higher levels significantly faster and in higher numbers, maybe because of unbalanced expectations of engineers at the same levels compared with other roles.