Sometimes I think so yes. I'm an engineer in semiconductors. I used to do real engineering, like developing processes and procedures and devices, and managing/ training a group to do the same.
But now, I just bug people. Or get bugged by people. Until recently, literally a large % of my time, 25% was "looking for lost wafers."
You know, I'm a mom, I spend WAY too much time at home looking for stuff that other people lose. I do NOT want to do it at work. And why? Because we laid so many people off, and there are a total of 4 or 5 people who AREN'T directors. So I just stopped looking for wafers. Let one of the other 4 people do it.
Mostly now I make sure that all data is entered correctly. I sometimes have time to actually analyze new data. But usually, I just bug people: "have you tested that yet?" "Are the wafers going to go into this chamber tomorrow?" "Will you be able to ship them on X day?" "How do we get these done quickly at vendor A?" "How do we get them done quickly at Vendor B?" "Has vendor A finished them yet?"
Still more of my day is getting bugged by people. "Have you uploaded data yet?" No. "Do you know how to?" No, but I'll figure it out. "Does Jane know?" No. "Well, maybe you should call Jim, maybe he knows." I'm working on it. Then person B: "Oh, how it that working, have you uploaded the data yet? Do you need to call Larry, what about...?"
Get the eff away from me and give us (3 of the 5 non directors) a few minutes to figure out the format of the data to be uploaded. Sheesh!
I enjoy the long term projects, but I feel like maybe project management, without actual hands-on engineering, is not my thing.