[broiler]

In my area, getting to senior manager is a very long process. Two of the big 4 offices here don't have any partners and are effectively run by the office in Pittsburgh. The lack of partner opportunities pushes down on the chain of command and forces people out of public in order to find better opportunities elsewhere.

The youngest senior manager (that I know of) around here graduated 10 years ago and was promoted to senior manager in January. A former coworker that was promoted at the same time took 12 years to get to senior manager. There are good friends of mine that are still managers after 12-15 years because most firms here are not big enough to promote unless a spot opens up at a level above. Senior manager positions are spots that firms like to fill from within so moving to another firm is rarely an option, unless you have inside information on partner/ senior manager retirements that are likely in the near future. I left the firm that I started with after college because I was blocked at the senior tax level by all of the tax managers who were waiting for a senior tax manager spot to open. 3 years later a spot finally opened at that firm to allow a little bit of movement in the tax department.