This happens with many doctoral students. They usually claim ABD status which means all but dissertation.
Dissertations often take years of work after the actual coursework is completed. A high percentage of students never complete the dissertation.
It was common to get a full time tenure track job as a professor while ABD and then finish later while teaching.
I was only 26 years old and still working on my graduate degree when I became a full time professor. I too never finished the degree as there were plenty of jobs and I was in a high demand specialty.
“Dissertations often take years of work after the actual coursework is completed. A high percentage of students never complete the dissertation.”
And now with chatGpt...
Dropping out of PhD program at the three year point typically means that your thesis research has failed and you are flunking out of the program.