I also work for Intel and I'd attribute this to the two very distinct tracks that are laid out, either the technical track to Principal Engineer, Fellow, etc. and the people track from manager, VP, etc. A LOT of people end up stopping after 3-4 promotions because it takes a lot to reach the final stages of this track but it provides a really robust pathway for people who want to have technical/people influence on dozens or hundreds of engineers but not necessarily thousands.
Due to the nature of programming interviews many programmers self-select themselves out of a shot at these "bubble" salaries. Look at recent threads on HN, many folks with valuable experience refuse to prepare for the modern day FAANG-like programming interviews out of principle or whatever, and thus aren't putting themselves in a position for these $250-300k jobs.
These companies have actually devised a pretty decent scheme to select candidates, you gotta be someone either smart enough off the bat or dedicated enough to study to pass their interviews -- either way it's a VERY strong signal that you're going to be a solid hire.
Tech companies are going to continue being some of the most valuable companies in the world, if they aren't we have a lot of other pressing issues (like the decline of civilization) to worry about. Even amongst a downturn and/or recession I'm very confident that programmers at the FAANG type companies will continue to be paid very well relative to the rest of the population.
