Can fewer managers really get the same amount of work done?
Nobody talks about that math.
The other day a friend told me something that I can't get out of my head. Her company flattened its structure recently. I realize it's a trend that has had some traction, plenty of companies doing it. The internal pitch is this: fewer layers, faster decisions, more ownership, salary budget savings. On paper, it makes sense.
The reality is that months later, the opposite happens. Things aren't falling through cracks less. They're falling through cracks more. There's no longer anyone whose job it is to catch them.
If your org flattened in the last year or two, here's how to tell if you're feeling the same thing:
- Decisions that used to get made at the manager level now stall at the top, waiting on you
- The same two or three people are quietly absorbing everyone else's dropped work
- Quality slips before anyone officially notices or names it
- People are busier but slower, because coordination has no clear owner anymore
- Your strongest performers are the first ones showing signs of burnout, because they're the ones absorbing the most
- Meetings that used to solve problems now just surface them, because nobody has the authority to actually resolve what's raised
If two or three of these feel familiar, your org didn't get more efficient. It just moved the inefficiency somewhere quieter.
The real answer is more nuanced. I've got thoughts on what could actually prevent this. Stay tuned.
Sources
A few sources if you want to dig into the data behind this:
- Gartner projects 20% of organizations will use AI to flatten their structure by 2026, cutting more than half of current middle management roles. Metaintro
- Korn Ferry's 2025 Workforce Survey found 41% of employees say their company has cut management layers, and 37% say it's left them feeling directionless. Betterworks
- Research reported by the Wall Street Journal shows manager headcount already down 6.1% between 2022 and 2025. Forbes