Everyone wants to kill the middle manager role. The data says don’t do it
Recently, I spoke with a head of HR for a tech company who asked: “Are you hearing of other organizations eliminating the manager role? Our CEO thinks they won’t be needed in the future because of AI, because the future is self-managing teams.” Aside from the obvious point that CEOs saying this may be talking themselves out of a job, it’s not a rare question at all. There’s even a name for this—the “Great Flattening”—and it’s everywhere. Some 41% of employees say their companies trimmed management layers last year, according to Korn Ferry’s survey of 15,000 professionals worldwide. Middle managers accounted for more than 31% of all layoffs in 2023. And it’s not likely to stop, but to accelerate instead: Gartner predicts that through 2026, 20% of organizations will use AI to flatten their structure, eliminating over half of their middle management positions. I get the appeal. Layers of management are expensive, and bad managers do exist. And if AI can take the notes, draft the goals, schedule the one-on-ones, and flag the underperformers in a dashboard, what exactly is the human in the middle for? {"blockType":"mv-promo-block","data":{"imageDesktopUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-169-Ashley-Herd.jpg","imageMobileUrl":"https:\/\/images.fastcompany.com\/image\/upload\/f_webp,q_auto,c_fit\/wp-cms-2\/2026\/01\/i-11-Ashley-Herd.jpg","eyebrow":"","headline":"\u003Cem\u003EThe Manager Method\u003C\/em\u003E","dek":"Want practical leadership development training that actually sticks? Visit managermethod.com to learn more and order Ashley Herd’s book, \u003Cem\u003EThe Manager Method\u003C\/em\u003E.","subhed":"","description":"","ctaText":"Learn More","ctaUrl":"http:\/\/managermethod.com","theme":{"bg":"#2b2d30","text":"#ffffff","eyebrow":"#9aa2aa","subhed":"#ffffff","buttonBg":"#3b3f46","buttonHoverBg":"#3b3f46","buttonText":"#ffffff"},"imageDesktopId":91478992,"imageMobileId":91478994,