Regarding "management track", I personally don't want to be a manager of more than a small group and might not take a position where I was expected to move into a larger management role later. Not everyone, as has been pointed out, is cut out to be a manager. I think it's an unrealistic expectation to hire someone for a management track if they don't have previous successful experience as a manager, there's just no telling how they'll turn out. Hire them, get them through the probation period, then see if they have what it takes to be a manager: interpersonal skills, organization skills, the ability to do project planning and management, maybe budget management, etc. Not everyone can do that.

Me, I hate meetings and love working with equipment. The deeper you move into management, the further away from that you go. Sort of not calling the drill sergeant Sir: "I work for a living!" 😀

Having said that, and working towards my weekly quota of arguing both sides of an issue, a person not moving into management can be a promotion bottleneck to others. Some organizations have a strict hierarchy: if you are only allowed X number of Analyst 3 positions, someone has to vacate an Analyst 3 position through promotion, transfer, or quitting, for an Analyst 2 to move up. So if an employee was expected to promote out of a position into a management position, they could be holding back their co-workers.