Some companies just don't have a full career track outside of people management. It's not really a matter of company size or age. I suspect most developers are okay with stunted career tracks for office management, system administration, or customer support. In some companies (including organizations that view themselves as software companies), the same attitude simply extends to software development as well.
I wish these different organizational choices would be more widely known. My current employer nowadays has these non-management career tracks, but I'm not sure if we communicate them clearly as one of the reasons to join the company.
In my experience, IC tracks in general tend to cap out based on the complexity and value of the skillset/domain to the business.
A major accounting firm may have some senior engineers, marketers, etc. but since their work isn’t “core” to the business, the top tiers of the technology and marketing tracks will tend to be exclusively management roles — whereas accountants will be allowed to… account… up to a much higher seniority level before they get forced into management.
I wish these different organizational choices would be more widely known. My current employer nowadays has these non-management career tracks, but I'm not sure if we communicate them clearly as one of the reasons to join the company.