It’s a pyramid - almost always is. If you average 5 direct reports, 5 deep, that’s 1 at the top, 5 on level 2, 25 on level 3, 125 on level 4, and 625 worker bees. The bees still outnumber the managers, which is how the managers justify 20% raises while the bees have to suck it up with 2% (in an economy that inflated prices 4%) - too many bees to give all of them a real raise, much cheaper to “reward and retain our good people” at the top. /s