Why should I care that the middle managers are gone?

Middle Management is shrinking. Modern organizations are reducing or eliminating the number of middle managers they have. In fact, 44% of 2000 professionals surveyed said their company had cut middle management roles, with 40% of respondents claiming they felt directionless as a result (Peck, 2025). In this post we will explore the implications of this shift away from middle management and toward a “Fitter, flatter, faster” organization (Kleinman et al., 2020)

Decline of Middle Management

This trend of reducing middle management has been coined “unbossing” (Elting, 2024). While the term suggests a liberation from unnecessary oversight, it represents a fundamental shift in how organizations operate. By removing the traditional layer of supervision, companies aim to accelerate decision-making and empower employees; however, this structural change is not without consequences. To understand the full impact of this shift, we must weigh the efficiency gains it promises against the potential risks to employee development and strategic alignment.

Advantages

Individual contributors are generally more cost-effective than managers. Additionally, middle managers often spend the majority of their time performing individual contributor work, with actual people management accounting for less than a quarter of their workload (Elting, 2024). Since these management roles typically command higher salaries, eliminating them in favor of individual contributor positions allows for significant cost reductions without necessarily losing productivity.

Beyond cost savings, speed is a primary driver for this shift. According to Kleinman et al. (2020), fast decision-making is a critical business strength in the current economic climate. A flatter organizational structure drastically reduces complexity, thereby increasing communication speed. By maintaining a structure of six or fewer layers of management (Kleinman et al., 2020), organizations can quickly communicate strategy from the top down and act on it immediately.

Finally, this structure promotes agility by empowering front-line employees to make decisions within established guardrails (Kleinman et al., 2020). Eliminating the need to constantly check with a middle manager allows customer-facing employees to make quick, effective decisions that benefit the business. However, it is important to note that this empowerment, while good for organizational agility, could lead to employees feeling overworked and disconnected if not managed correctly.

Disadvantages

One of the most immediate consequences of "unbossing" is role overload (Peck, 2025). As organizations flatten, the remaining managers often face significantly wider spans of control. Kleinman et al. (2020) advocate for spans as wide as 1:30 to foster autonomy However, Fernandez and Landis (2025) argue that while a flattened chart looks efficient on paper, the reality is that managers responsible for such sprawling teams often feel "buried by decisions, demands, and sheer volume," leading to reactive leadership and burnout.

Furthermore, the reduction of middle management can lead to a loss of strategic alignment. Middle managers traditionally act as translators, converting high-level corporate strategy into actionable tasks for the front line (Gavett & Sawhney, 2025). I experienced the necessity of this role firsthand during my first professional position. When both my direct manager and her supervisor went on leave simultaneously, I was left reporting directly to the Senior Vice President of HR. The gap between entry-level execution and executive strategy was daunting; without the translator layer to contextualize high-level directives, critical information was often lost, leading to confusion and misalignment.

Finally, the transition to a flatter structure often triggers negative psychological effects known as "Survivor Syndrome." Research indicates that employees who remain after a downsizing event often experience heightened anxiety, job insecurity, and reduced organizational commitment (Bhatia et al., 2022). These “survivors" may become risk-averse or disengaged, paradoxically lowering the very productivity the restructuring aimed to improve.

Conclusion

The landscape of management is undergoing a radical transformation. As companies pursue "unbossing" strategies to reduce costs and increase agility (Peck, 2025), the role of the middle manager is becoming increasingly complex. While the shift offers clear advantages in speed and empowerment, it also risks overburdening the remaining leaders and severing the strategic link between the C-suite and the front line (Gavett & Sawhney, 2025). Ultimately, success in this new environment does not depend solely on organizational structure, but on the adaptability of the individuals within it. By mastering Situational Leadership, leveraging Emotional Intelligence, and maintaining strategic alignment, managers can navigate these changes effectively, ensuring that "flatter" truly means "fitter," not just "fewer."

 

References

Bhatia, N., & Sreeramana, A. (2022). COVID-19-induced downsizing and survivors' syndrome: The moderating role of transformational leadership. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.833116

Elting, L. (2024). Unbossing: The new trend in management. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lizelting/

Fernandez, J., & Landis, K. (2025, September 1). When you’re suddenly managing more people (and feeling buried). Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2025/09/when-youre-suddenly-managing-more-people-and-feeling-buried

Gavett, G., & Sawhney, V. (2025, April 29). What's the future of middle management? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2025/04/whats-the-future-of-middle-management

Kleinman, S., Simon, P., & Weerda, K. (2020, August 24). Fitter, flatter, faster: How unstructuring your organization can unlock massive value. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-organization-blog/fitter-flatter-faster-how-unstructuring-your-organization-can-unlock-massive-value

Peck, E. (2025, April 17). Companies are eliminating middle manager roles. Axios. https://www.axios.com/2025/04/17/managers-korn-ferry-unbossing-costs-tariffs

Graduate Studies. (2019, December 11). Organizational behavior. Usnh.edu; Graduate Studies, Granite State College. https://pressbooks.usnh.edu/mgmt805