Middle Management Is on Its Way Out; Here's Why Millennials Are Happy About It

Shutterstock

Technology and generational shifts have led to a decline in the importance of middle management positions, and no one welcomes the change more than millennials. As writer Sydney Finkelstein outlines in a BBC article, much of Generation Y has entered the workforce to make a difference and feels restricted rather than motivated by managers who set restrictions and task-based goals. Finkelstein also highlights that startup culture and technology have made many of these managerial positions redundant; data can now be better analyzed by an algorithm, for example, and startups have shown that having a group of people who take on a variety of responsibilities at once is a more efficient system than the top-down management style that has been popular for some time.

And while this may seem like terrible news to some, according to Finkelstein the shift may represent an opportunity.

From the BBC:

As the US election season gets underway, American politicians are rolling out their usual lines about creating jobs for the middle class. It’s a terrific sentiment, but if they’re talking about the middle class that used to populate middle-management jobs in offices around the country, I’m sorry to report that that train has left the station.

The sad truth is that middle management is on its way to becoming virtually extinct. While there will always be some people supervising the work of other people, changes in technology, business culture and demographics are all conspiring to upend what has long been standard practice in companies.

We should no longer expect traditional job ladders for managers to move up the ranks, or even retaining the notion that middle managers are the glue that connects workers and ensures goal alignment up and down the hierarchy.

This is different.