Depends on the company a bit. The older a company is, the more it accumulates the sorts of people who equate management with cracking a whip. This is the laziest form of management and also the least effective. It's incredibly common, though.

There are some really talented managers out there. The sort of folks you want to work for. You'll find more of these at younger companies.

But the harsh/unfortunate reality is corporate culture generously rewards managers in spite of their effectiveness (lack thereof).

Empire building is probably the single biggest drain on the global economy. The good news is it seems to be getting more attention and companies (Bayer, Meta for example) are taking action to combat it.