I'm an over-50 developer. Most of my friends don't write software anymore (some burned out, others got bored with it). I've always loved creating software, so I try to spend as much of my day writing code as I can.
I left <big company> several years ago - part of the reason is that it was not as rewarding to me personally to be spending all of my time on management and administration.
My advice would be to follow your passion - if you want to build your skills as a developer, be sure to refuse to be "promoted" into management or do a really crappy job at all the non-development tasks your company tries to get you to do.
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I'm an over-50 developer. Most of my friends don't write software anymore (some burned out, others got bored with it). I've always loved creating software, so I try to spend as much of my day writing code as I can.
I left <big company> several years ago - part of the reason is that it was not as rewarding to me personally to be spending all of my time on management and administration.
My advice would be to follow your passion - if you want to build your skills as a developer, be sure to refuse to be "promoted" into management or do a really crappy job at all the non-development tasks your company tries to get you to do.