The job AI still can’t do

01.13.26

Consulting

The need for the primary functions of middle managers is as strong as ever. But while middle management isn’t disappearing, it is being reinvented

U.S. job postings for middle management roles were about 42% lower in late 2025 than they were in April 2022, when middle manager job postings peaked, according to Revelio Labs data. Instead of eliminating the middle man, is Corporate America eliminating the middle manager?

No. Middle management isn’t disappearing. But it does seem like it’s being reinvented.

Companies are flattening their org charts in many cases to cut costs and accelerate decision-making. Take a little economic pressure from here, some AI automation for administrative tasks from over there, add a pinch of salt, and bam — fewer management openings.

Yet while the number of jobs may be shrinking, the need for the primary functions of middle managers is as strong as ever. They’re the conduit, in both directions, between upper management and the teams doing the day-to-day work of the business.

“The primary role of a ‘middle manager’ has often been viewed as translating expectations, perspectives, and priorities between senior leadership and those closest to the work,” said Jenn Christison, a principal consultant at Seven Ways Consulting. “For example, senior leadership sets an edict. It is the middle manager’s job to understand the implications for their teams and translate high-level direction into actionable next steps. And when their teams push back or offer suggestions, it is the middle manager who must find a way to translate their practical considerations into ‘strategic imperatives’ that will resonate with the C-suite.”

Less attention is given to the equally important task of ensuring effective collaboration across functional silos, Christison said.

“Middle managers are in the unique position of hearing perspectives from all angles of their organization: the top, bottom, and sides. Their bosses give them direction, their direct reports give them the lay of the land, and their peers give them insights into the gaps between,” she said. “As organizations grow ever flatter — unfortunately most often due to urgent cost cutting rather than thoughtful design — middle managers can emphasize their unique value by creating deliberate communication forums with their peers, sharing concerns, insights, and ideally, process improvements. In building effective collaboration across functional silos, middle managers will reduce significant friction and demonstrate commitment to the organization’s objectives.”

All that is to say, the middle-management era is far from over.

“You still need middle managers. The idea that you can remove them all and it’ll be fine is nonsense,” said Ben Hardy, a professor of organizational behavior at London Business School. “You need people to coordinate between parts of the organization, and employees like to report to a person. AI has, in some cases, been a disappointment. The promise is good, as it was with offshoring call centers, but things that look like simple tasks often aren’t.”

‘Communicate, communicate, communicate’

What does reducing friction look like?

“The first skill a manager needs to develop is the ability to recognize where friction exists and why it may be happening in the organization,” said Jermaine Moore, a leadership consultant with the Mars Hill Group. “Is it an overall lack of clarity on strategy and direction? Is there confusion around team roles and responsibilities? Are their people feeling overwhelmed as they are asked to do more with less? Are there interpersonal ‘rubs’ within the team that have not been addressed?”

Most of the friction within organizations is due to a lack of communication, Moore said.

“There is an adage: Communicate, communicate, communicate, and when you think you have communicated enough, communicate some more,” he said. “People rarely complain that they are receiving too much communication.”

Additionally, the most successful middle managers don’t wait for problems to escalate, said Sondra Leibner, managing director of consulting at alliantConsulting.

“[Successful middle managers] develop early warning systems through regular check-ins and pattern recognition that catches issues before they become issues,” Leibner said. “Creating communication rhythms that employees listen to and/or read to prevent the information gaps that cause most organizational friction. They become adept at establishing clear decision rights and escalation paths, knowing exactly which decisions they can make independently versus which require consultation, and they advocate upward to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks.”

Furthermore, indispensable middle managers position themselves as guardians of institutional knowledge. They understand how work is supposed to get done, and how it actually gets done, Leibner said.

They:

Proactively build their team’s adaptability muscles through skill development and careful explanation and question answering when changes are announced.
Master upward influence by presenting problems with solutions, data, and context, becoming leaders who bring clarity to complexity rather than adding to it.
Serve as cultural carriers who maintain team cohesion and values during uncertain times.
Raise the bar for teams by giving feedback rooted in growth and development for each individual team member, creating a culture of collaboration and accountability.

“At their best, middle managers are the critical connective tissue between strategy and results, and that role has never mattered more,” said Sabra Sciolaro, the chief people officer at Firstup, a workplace communications platform. “They sit where strategy either becomes real or quietly stalls, turning high-level direction into concrete priorities, decisions, and outcomes teams can actually execute against. They reduce friction by clarifying next steps, simplifying processes, and protecting focus so teams aren’t constantly pulled in competing directions.”

Middle management isn’t disappearing, Sciolaro said, it’s being redefined.

“That’s why these roles are shrinking in number but growing in impact,” she said. “And the managers who adapt won’t just keep their jobs. They’ll become some of the most critical leaders in the company.”

Sondra Leibner is an executive level consultant who doesn’t just support leaders but revolutionizes their strategy development, leadership alignment, change management, culture design, and talent development. When you meet Sondra, you will feel the depth of her experience and her understanding that your challenges, culture and circumstances are unique.

Sondra Leibner

alliantConsulting Managing Director: Transformational Leader and Strategic Visionary

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