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I saw a really interesting article the other day on MSN, noting that Gen Z isn’t interested in middle management (apparently, in a trend called “consciously unbossing”) and I thought it might make an interesting discussion here. If you’ve recently considered yourself middle management, what do you think the pros and cons are to middle management? Do you understand the lack of interest in becoming middle management? Do you think companies should (or will) change, or that Gen Z should (or will) reframe their attitudes?
According to MSN, “research shows that over half of Gen Z have no interest in pursuing middle management roles. There is an understandable reason for this: these roles are known for their high levels of burnout and may initially seem at odds with Gen Z’s values of autonomy, flexibility and personal well-being.”
(The article defines middle managers as those who are “responsible for both their team’s performance and the implementation of broader organizational strategies,” unlike supervisors, who “primarily focus on overseeing day-to-day tasks.”)
MSN goes on to suggest that Gen Zers just need an attitude adjustment, and should “refram[e] these roles to align with your values and aspirations [in order to] see it as a rewarding opportunity rather than a burden.”
Harper’s Bazaar also picked up the study, noting that
Research from recruitment company Robert Walters has found that more than half of Gen Z workers (52%) don’t want to be middle managers – with 16% refusing to ever take on a role that involves having direct line reports. When further probed about why middle-management roles don’t appeal, workers pointed to stagnating wages and little trade-off; 69% of Gen Z recipients said that middle management is “too high stress, low reward”.
Harper’s Bazaar notes that we might see senior management absorbing some of the responsibility that has traditionally been middle managers.
What are your thoughts, readers — do you think middle management has more cons than pros, or is there a misunderstanding here? Do you think the company systems should change, or Gen Z should change their framing of the issue?
Stock photo via Stencil.
