[shitloadofbooks]

A lot of those upper layers and the bureaucracy which is seen as "bloat by the bottom layers comes about from compliance. The compliance burden grows as the business grows (e.g PCI, insurance and government requirements kick in at certain thresholds).

Sure engineering adding a new widget to the site might increase profits by 12%, but all that bureaucracy can prevent the company losing its payment provider or breaching a government regulation which might cause the company to close overnight. So if the stakes are +12% vs -100%, who is actually doing the most important work?

I don't disagree with your desire to work somewhere lean and task-focused, but I think it's almost impossible for that to happen anywhere but small(er) workplaces.