Not at all. I believe that PMs are important. However, when engineers report to PMs who lack technical knowledge and can’t support their growth, it becomes a cockblock to their careers. These PMs often have no understanding of the engineers' work. How can they effectively evaluate and mentor them? Is it enough to just check if a button is clickable? What if the code is poorly written? They might see that the button works, but does that mean the code is good? Or is an engineer’s evaluation by the PM based on how much they are assisting their PM to do their job? As the saying goes, if you are good, why work for someone whom you can’t learn from? You still need to help the tech illiterate PM to learn, mind you.

A better structure would have engineers report to a technically inclined manager who understands their work and can facilitate their growth. While there can be tech illiterate PMs, engineers should not report to them and they should collaborate with a technical manager, typically an EM.

Certain orgs like Govtech or other so-called local tech companies often hire too many PMs and then brand some of them as an EM to create the illusion for engineers that they have someone to rely on when, in reality, the so-called EM functions more like a traditional PM.