Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

For my second assignment rotation, I scheduled a meeting with the manager of the proposed team to understand their work. He repeatedly said he was not technical and redirected me to a senior team member for any meaningful discussion. Once I joined the team, the actual dynamics became clear.
The team was composed of a handful of senior employees who had been in the same roles for many years, and a large group of junior employees. The senior members were effectively running the team: assigning projects, controlling opportunities, and shaping the juniors’ career paths. They were doing this largely unchecked because the manager's lack of capability .An unhealthy power structure. The senior employees had formed small internal cults and were actively recruiting juniors into their groups. Their influence came not from leadership ability but from the manager’s incompetence and dependence on them. When evaluating his own team members, he relied entirely on the same senior employees who were controlling the work and saving top ranks for themselves.