While headlines fixate on frontline staffing crises, a quieter emergency is unfolding. Experienced middle managers are leaving faster than organisations can develop replacements – and the pipeline of willing successors is running dry.
The scale of the exodus
Job cuts for middle managers increased to 31.5% of total layoffs in 2023, up from under 20% in 2018. The cuts continue: this year, 41% of employees say their companies trimmed management layers, according to Korn Ferry’s Workforce 2025 report.
One in five businesses are expected to use AI to flatten their organisational structure by 2026, slashing over half of current middle management positions, according to Gartner. CNBC
Meanwhile, US employers were advertising 42% fewer middle management positions at the end of 2024 than in the spring of 2022.
The maths is stark: organisations are eliminating manager roles while failing to develop the next generation of leaders.
Why the role has become toxic
Some 46% of middle managers say they’re likely to quit within 12 months because of work-related stress, according to UKG’s Workforce Institute. The burnout is pervasive – 86% of managers report experiencing job burnout, the highest of any group including C-suite leaders (73%).
Confidence among middle managers dropped to its worst-ever reading in February 2024, per Glassdoor, because “middle managers are under pressure to do more with less.”
The role has become structurally thankless – absorbing pressure from executives demanding efficiency and employees seeking support, while watching peers get made redundant.
The next generation is opting out
Younger workers have observed this – and they’re declining the opportunity.
72% of Gen Z workers say they’d rather progress as individual contributors than become middle managers, according to Robert Walters. When asked why, nearly 70% said: “Too high stress, low reward.”
Overall, 57% of Gen Z professionals don’t want to be middle managers, with 18% saying they’ll avoid the role entirely.
This isn’t naivety. Gen Z watched large corporations announce major job cuts in 2024, with middle management comprising 30% of layoffs – despite 89% of companies stating these managers are amongst their most valuable people.
Why volunteer for a role that’s high-stress, under-rewarded and increasingly expendable?
The untrained manager problem
Even those who do step up are woefully unprepared.
The Chartered Management Institute found that 82% of managers entering management positions have not had any proper training – they are “accidental managers”.
These accidental managers are often promoted for the wrong reasons, with nearly half (46%) believing colleagues won promotions based on internal relationships rather than ability.
The consequences: while one in four UK workers holds a management role, only 27% describe their manager as “highly effective” Of those who don’t rate their manager as effective, half plan to leave within a year.
Why this matters financially
McKinsey analysis shows that organisations with top-performing managers yield multiple times the total shareholder returns of those with average managers over five years.
Organisations using managers effectively see employees five times more likely to report healthy workplace culture and four times more likely to align with company goals. CNBC
Conversely, workers are four times more likely to quit when they don’t feel supported by their managers.
Weak management drives turnover, damages culture and erodes performance. This isn’t an HR problem – it’s a commercial one.
What to do now
Audit the pipeline honestly. How many qualified internal candidates exist for each critical management role? Fewer than three means you have a succession problem.
Invest in first-time manager development. The 82% of untrained managers represents systemic failure. Structured programmes covering feedback, coaching and performance management should be mandatory.
Redesign the role. Strip away administrative tasks consuming manager time. One bank found that having a direct report created 105 tasks for every manager. By automating and eliminating non-essential work, they freed managers to focus on coaching.
Reconsider compensation. If management carries significantly more stress without proportionate reward, rational employees will avoid it.
Create alternative career paths. Individual contributor tracks with genuine progression retain high performers who don’t want people leadership.
Support existing managers visibly. “You can’t expect them to lead if they don’t feel supported,” noted Tapaswee Chandele, global vice president of talent at The Coca-Cola Company.
The bottom line
Organisations face a choice: continue cutting management layers and under-investing in development, or recognise that strong middle management isn’t bureaucratic overhead – it’s strategic infrastructure.
The companies that act will have a structural advantage. Those that don’t will find themselves with flattened organisations and no one capable of leading them.
