Leap Trends · Structure · Management layers
Theme
Management layers
The publications cover the removal of management layers, often with AI as the reason, and what happens to the middle manager’s tasks as that layer thins out or disappears.
The conclusions and topics were compiled with AI from the publications on this page, with the sources alongside. How that works · How we count
What the publications show
Korn Ferry finds that 42 per cent of organisations cut management roles last year, and Fortune describes how AI agents are flattening hierarchies. In both publications, AI serves as the reason for working with fewer coordinating layers.
Korn Ferry, 2026 (opens in a new window) · Fortune, 2026 (opens in a new window)
Two case studies find that the middle manager’s tasks remain. At the Finnish company Reaktor (Aalto University), self-managing teams did not take over all functions and narrow support roles emerged; in Spanish dark stores (EUI), managers became interpreters of algorithms.
Aalto University, 2026 (opens in a new window) · European University Institute, 2025 (opens in a new window)
The European University Institute found in 51 interviews that algorithmic management increases control over work. Where the technology is used for surveillance, employees turn against management. This rests on a single study.
Topics within management layers
This list shows what the publications on this theme are about, with the number for each topic. Open a topic to see its publications; if a topic has a briefing, the link is underneath.
- Briefing: Management layers, AI and the strain on the managers who remain →
Cutting layers with AI2 publications
The middle manager’s role2 publications
- The ten functions of middle managers – Identifying their functional substitutes in a decentralized organization without traditional middle managers · Aalto University, 2026
- Lost in Automation? Algorithmic Management and the Evolving Role of Middle Managers - Insights From the Spanish Dark Stores Sector · European University Institute, 2025
Briefings on other themes that touch on this one
These briefings belong to another theme but also cover management layers.
Management layers, AI and the strain on the managers who remain
- Fewer management layers
- AI as the reason
- Strain on managers
The removal of management layers continues, and AI has become the argument: redesign the work around technology and you need less coordination. Korn Ferry finds that 42 per cent of organisations cut management roles last year; 55 per cent of the managers who remain are exhausted.
| Month | Publications |
|---|---|
| December 2025 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 1 |
| February 2026 | 1 |
| March 2026 | 0 |
| April 2026 | 1 |
| May 2026 | 0 |
| June 2026 | 2 |
| July 2026 | 1 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 1 |
| October 2026 | 1 |
| November 2026 | 0 |
updated · 9 publications
Span of control and how much hands-on work managers still do
- Fewer layers, bigger teams
- Span of control
- Hands-on work
Organisations have cut management layers on a large scale. The managers who remain now have twelve direct reports on average and still do hands-on work themselves. Gallup found the limit: above forty per cent own work, team engagement falls as the team grows.
| Month | Publications |
|---|---|
| December 2025 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 2 |
| February 2026 | 1 |
| March 2026 | 0 |
| April 2026 | 2 |
| May 2026 | 0 |
| June 2026 | 1 |
| July 2026 | 0 |
| August 2026 | 1 |
| September 2026 | 3 |
| October 2026 | 0 |
| November 2026 | 0 |
updated · 10 publications
Unbossing and why middle managers want to leave
- Intention to leave
- Unbossing
- Stress among managers
In May 2026, 56 per cent of US managers were looking for another job, and worldwide 40 per cent of managers under increased stress had considered giving up leadership altogether. The layer that organisations thinned out themselves is now thinning out of its own accord.
| Month | Publications |
|---|---|
| December 2025 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 0 |
| February 2026 | 0 |
| March 2026 | 0 |
| April 2026 | 1 |
| May 2026 | 1 |
| June 2026 | 1 |
| July 2026 | 0 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 1 |
| October 2026 | 0 |
| November 2026 | 0 |
updated · 6 publications
All publications on management layers
This list shows every publication on this theme, including those not (yet) part of a briefing. Choose a period; a title opens the publication at its source.
- The ten functions of middle managers – Identifying their functional substitutes in a decentralized organization without traditional middle managers (opens the publication in a new window)Management layersSelf-organisationBriefing: Span of control and how much hands-on work managers still do
- Korn Ferry Workforce 2026 Report: Unlocking Growth Requires Rethinking How Work Gets Done (opens the publication in a new window)Management layersWork designBriefing: Management layers, AI and the strain on the managers who remainBriefing: Engagement and workload of managers and their teams
- AI agents are flattening corporate hierarchies, and companies and managers are developing a new playbook (opens the publication in a new window)Management layersBriefing: Management layers, AI and the strain on the managers who remain
- Lost in Automation? Algorithmic Management and the Evolving Role of Middle Managers - Insights From the Spanish Dark Stores Sector (opens the publication in a new window)Management layersBriefing: Management layers, AI and the strain on the managers who remain
No publication matches this combination. Choose a longer period or clear a filter.