Did you know there is a looming manager shortage?
In all the discussions around talent and skills shortages, managers—especially middle managers—are often considered the “bloat” on an organization’s balance sheet or the unnecessary bureaucratic layer that gets in the way of productivity and results. Many leaders don’t consider the loss of management layers a problem.
But managers are often critical to the success of organizations as they perform the crucial function of translating the organization’s strategy into operational reality. But recent studies suggest that businesses will soon face a shortage of qualified managers. In fact, a recent study out of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce found that by 2032, firms will face a shortage of about 2.9 million managers, outpacing shortages in nursing, teaching, and engineering!
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How to Avoid a Manager Shortage
This study comes in the wake of years of trimming management positions across the landscape. In the US, public companies have cut middle managers by 6.1% as of the end of 2024.
It’s possible that many companies are trimming management positions now only to face shortages in 2032. To avoid facing your own management shortage over the next few years, here are seven ways to prepare.
1. Hold off on more cuts.
Whether your organization is actively letting managers go or just not filling empty management positions, trying to function with fewer managers may be counterproductive. While it is possible for an organization to have too many managers, look carefully at these positions before assuming they’re responsible for challenges your company is facing. Many managers may have a key supportive role in the organization, and flat organizational structures often fail to produce the results they promise.
2. Look for new talent inside your organization.
Within the organization, look for individual contributors who have a strong aptitude for leadership or a solid business acumen. Actively cultivate these emerging leaders and prepare them to take on management roles.
It’s possible that some of these individual contributors may initially feel resistant to moving into leadership roles. Find out what their concerns are and address them. Encourage mentoring relationships with more senior leaders who can support these emerging leaders as they develop the skills they need to lead others.
3. Set a solid foundation.
In any era, managers need a solid foundation of basic skills to help them navigate the supervisory duties of leading a team. Train potential leaders on basic management skills, such as interviewing and hiring, running projects, and managing a budget. As managers start to outgrow their positions and look at middle management, make sure they have the skills they need to navigate those new responsibilities.
4. Employ technology where it makes sense.
Whether you share the optimism around artificial intelligence or find yourself resistant to its adoption, there’s no denying that it is now part of the business landscape. In fact, futurists predict a move beyond the Internet Age into an Augmented Age, where AI handles repetitive rule-based tasks and frees up humans for higher-order work.
No one is saying that it’s time to let the machines take over all management duties, but where it can streamline productivity or take the pressure off human managers to allow them better work-life balance, senior leaders should employ it. AI can be a powerful tool, but it is still a tool, not a panacea.
5. Address the challenges of management positions.
The middle manager crisis is real. Even if you’re convinced that you still need managers in your organization, you may struggle to find people who are interested in those roles. They may have the skills or aptitude, but be unwilling to work in positions that require them to spend too much time managing projects instead of people or ask them to defend a corporate culture that their direct reports find toxic.
One critical challenge facing organizations is the reluctance of Gen Z employees to consider management positions. To many younger employees, management positions mean being perpetually overworked and underpaid in roles that lack meaning or purpose.
Take a close look at the management positions across your organization. How can you improve them? Start by assuring your managers that they aren’t expected to do it all, and then reassure them that they have a critical role to play in the success of the organization.
6. Teach them to coach others.
Managers are a critical link in the development chain, but too many don’t really know how to coach others. Focus on developing the coaching skills of managers and potential managers. As managers work with their own direct reports, they can look for additional potential managers and help create a robust leadership pipeline.
7. Encourage feedback with senior leaders.
Building a strong management bench involves more than just training and development. Senior leaders also need to encourage a culture of robust feedback and psychological safety.
Managers across the company—from the frontline managers to middle managers on the cusp of senior leadership—should feel empowered to offer suggestions and feedback to those above them. Let managers experiment with better ways to manage their teams. Encourage cross-functional teams and open sharing of ideas. When the organizational culture is built on trust, managers will find their roles more rewarding.
With more immediate challenges hitting our desks by the day (and sometimes by the hour) planning for a future crisis can easily get pushed down the priority list. The good news about this particular issue? Dealing with it now not only prepares your organization for a future when management talent is scarce, it offers the immediate benefit of strengthening your management bench right now, giving you additional resources you can put to work in addressing today's challenges.
Struggling with manager development or organizational design? The professionals at Stewart Leadership can help. Our experts stand ready to help you design and run an organization that produces both business results and people results. To learn how,contact us!
Self-check:
- Are we struggling to find and retain managers? If so, is there a clear cause or challenge we can address?
- What is one way we could use technology to streamline the responsibilities of our managers?
- Would our senior leaders benefit from an offsite with managers to hear their concerns and challenges? When can we schedule that?
