Source: Forbes Newsfeed to Career Town
In 2025, it’s predicted that 1 in 10 management roles will be filled by Gen Z. But that’s a complicated statistic, when management jobs are going the way of the milk man and the fax machine. Forbes highlights the stark reality of white-collar job cuts, with middle-management positions being systematically eliminated at organizations like Google, Meta, UPS and others. Indeed, middle management positions accounted for nearly a third of layoffs in 2023, according to reports from Live Data Technologies. That’s bad news for Gen Z workers seeking guidance, mentoring and oversight. Or a white-collar job in management. Is management a disappearing career?
CNBC reports that Amazon is shifting to an individual-contributor model - a type of unbossing that could foster the elimination of as many as 14,000 management roles. Other companies are making similar moves on a smaller scale, cutting into the middle to improve the bottom line. What’s really at work here? Is AI making middle management positions redundant?
“Digital transformation plays a significant role,” according to Joseph Roh, a professor at the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University who commented on the unbossing trend on CNBC. “Automation and advanced technologies reduce the need for middle managers to oversee tasks that can now be monitored by software.”
While management is disappearing, employee engagement is suffering. Gallup notes that the connection between employees and managers is a driving force behind performance and employee wellbeing, stating that “the role of the manager has never been more important”. But is it really?
The crisis for Gen Z isn’t that thousands of middle managers have lost their jobs. The key takeaway here is that these jobs don’t really exist anymore. Is it any wonder that employee engagement is in the ditch, and Forbes reports that 52% of Gen Z workers don’t want to be middle managers? Self-leadership is the direction for Gen Z, but navigating without guidance might be the real challenge.
In a Harris poll, 82% of managers said that Gen Z new hires need more training in soft skills. Meanwhile, nearly 80% of Gen Z employees say that these highly-desired soft skills can’t be taught, and can only be developed by watching more seasoned employees over time. A Catch-22 is the result of these mutually conflicting conditions.
It’s the classic chicken and the egg paradox: how do you gain valuable experience without the opportunity to gain valuable experience? Or be managed by those who can share it?
The Harris Poll revealed that over half of Gen Z employees feel underprepared for professional roles, citing a lack of soft-skill training during their formative years (read: COVID). How do you demonstrate what you have not observed, learned or experienced? Over half of Gen Z employees say that a lack of interpersonal training makes them afraid of “asking dumb questions”. According to the survey, nearly 60% of Gen Z employees don’t know who to turn to for help with their soft skills. Perhaps because their manager was recently fired?
Linda Jingfang Cai, VP of talent development at LinkedIn, told Fortune that soft skills are “the currency of the future workplace”. She said that any company helmed by people who don’t prioritize empathy and connection will lose out on this vital currency.
As AI further integrates itself into business operations, soft skills are becoming more significant in 2025. Think judgment, teamwork, and articulating a vision—even a vision for the next phase of AI. Coaching can augment unknowns, accelerate experience and provide a safe space for “dumb questions”. Here are three actionable ways coaching can help:
For Gen Z, the workplace of 2025 is a crucible of opportunity and challenge - with more of the latter inhibiting the former. If engagement and performance are going to be a part of the future of work, individuals and organizations have to access new skills, now. Self-leadership has never been more important than it is now. That trend is only going to continue in the age of AI. Through a commitment to coaching and skill-building, Gen Z and employers can bridge the management gap - and be better prepared for the future of work.
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Chris Westfall covers the changing nature of the leadership conversation. An international business coach to executives, entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders, he is the author of four books, and a ghost writer on eight more (including a Wall Street Journal Best-Seller). An international keynote speaker and frequent media guest, he has appeared on NBC, ABC NEWS, Bloomberg, BBC Radio and multiple broadcast outlets. His clients include influencers, Fortune 500 executives, entrepreneurs, political candidates, military leaders, professional athletes and global organizations. His entrepreneurial coaching clients have appeared on television shows like Shark Tank, Dragons Den in Canada and Shark Tank Australia. He regularly works with students across multiple disciplines at Texas A&M, where he has coached thousands of entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists - including the winners of the Rice Business Plan Competition in 2016 an 2023. He is a past recipient of the MBA top teaching award at Southern Methodist University’s Business Leadership Institute. Latest book: Easier (Wiley). Contributor since: 2019
