Escaping the Middle
GenZers and young Millennials are saying "no thanks" to middle management promotions— in yet another push to modify old workplace norms
New data shows that the youngest workers in some of the most highly demanding fields are dodging promotions to middle manager roles, saying they are “too high stress with low reward” and too “old-style” in some cases to synch with the new leadership roles needed for the future of work. Trouble is, the trend may hinder company growth.
NEW YORK — In this year’s noisy world of catchphrases and clickbait labels like “The Great Resignation” and “The Great Stay,” there’s a new one making the rounds—de-bossification— which reflects yet another way the world of work is changing.
Once upon a time, a mid-level manager [or “boss”] controlled the flow of information. He/she decided who got access to opportunities and who didn’t. And he/she usually was a celebrated source of expertise.
Today, talent anywhere can find information on its own, create its own opportunities and obtain knowledge at the click of a mouse or a sharply written AI prompt. In many industries today—and especially in those employing “white-collar” knowledge workers—the days of having a middle manager/“boss” control the output of a department or specific work function is now going the way of the phone booth.
According to recent data from Robert Walters, a global recruitment company, the trend is being called “conscious un-bossing.” Some 57% of GenZ workers in the U.S. who were surveyed recently said they weren’t interested in becoming middle managers, opting instead for an “individual route to career progression over managing others.”
Why? In a LinkedIn survey this year, 47% of managers said they felt burned out, more so than directors or individual contributors. Additionally, 40% of the GenZ respondents said they reject some of the “bossy traits” forged in a different era that some companies and organizations still demand of their middle managers, and reward. And that’s not all. A survey of HR leaders by Gartner late last year said their managers were “overwhelmed by the growth of their job responsibilities”—which now include managing return-to-office policies, AI developments and much more, and often with little if any extra management training.
Trouble Ahead?
So why is this new GenZ trend worth noting now? The trend could have serious impact on companies which employ a lot of middle managers because it might hinder growth, analysts say. Sean Puddle, managing director of Robert Walters New York, says middle managers are often the “driving force” behind an organization’s growth: “If you’ve got a load of people who aren’t interested in moving up into that middle management function,” Puddle told Inc. Magazine, “it can actually end up limiting your growth and, or, stretching the managers that you have got really, really thin.”
Then again, maybe it’s time for companies to examine why we need to rethink the design of the work needed, and the factors that are causing traditional work structures and styles to now be ineffective. Rishad Tobaccowala, a change management expert formerly with the Publicis Groupe and more recently the author of the forthcoming book, Rethinking Work, predicts the de-bossification trend will intensify as the influence of AI technology in the workplace and employee collaboration models become more common and expand across more sectors.
“The big corner offices, the gauntlet of handlers, receptionists and other awe-inspiring but fear-mongering, top-down scaffolding of the pre 2020s will all be seen now as the crutches of the insecure and the fearful causing most new talent to rapidly re-route,” he said. “Now, a boss’s ‘zone of influence’ and ‘zone of impact’ will be far more important and attractive to knowledge workers” than what has been seen as a “zone of control.”
“There’s a rise in the need for leaders, guides, coaches, mentors, role-models, creators and builders—and far less of a clamoring for bosses, managers, controllers, monitors, evaluators and paper pushers,” he added.
The shift is also being driven by changing age, culture, gender and ethnic demographics and the rise of unbundled and distributed work. “We’re in an era of redefining what “work” is and what leadership needs to become,” Tobaccowala added in an interview. Culture, teams and excellence now need to be cultivated across time and space; free-agent talent that works independently or at multiple jobs is expected to make up most of the U.S. work force by the end of the decade.
Most future of work experts agree that there is an urgent need for coaching and training and patience to help today’s managers become tomorrow’s leaders—and for yesterday’s managers to adapt a new mindset and skillset, he says. “Talent is short and it is a mistake to believe that seasoned employees cannot grow into new potential. New brooms sweep clean but old brooms know the corners.”
Among a few other recent data points giving us a glimpse into the changing workplace:
According to ADP, GenZers now make up 3% of the managerial workforce compared with just over 1% in 2020, though their share remains small overall.
Deloitte’s latest GenZ and Millennial survey says 86% of GenZ respondents say a sense of purpose at work is “important to their overall job satisfaction” and work-life balance ranks as the top priority when choosing an employer.
Manager behaviors are highly correlated with employees’ emotions and perception of an organization’s culture. The Integral Index, an annual survey of 2,000 U.S. employees conducted in conjunction with the Harris Poll, said middle managers say their job is getting harder, with 60% of employees surveyed expressing negative emotions about their middle manager’s understanding of their organization’s strategy and direction and 54% of employees having negative emotions about whether their manager shows enough concern for employee welfare. “Training, supporting and valuing managers is one of the most important things an organization can do to create engaged and motivated employees,” the 2024 Integral survey said. “It’s important to treat frontline managers as a two-way communications network of relationships. Don’t just ask them to deliver messages. Ask them for input and train them to listen well. Treat them as a vital part of the leadership team, because they are.”
What do you think of these changes in the workplace? Share your thoughts with us and our expanding New Rules network!