Managers were already disappearing. Enter AI.

Data: Gusto; Chart: Axios VisualsThe above chart may explain why your boss is taking longer to get back to you lately: She's got a lot more underlings to watch over.Driving the news: People managers now oversee about twice as many workers as just five years ago, per a new analysis.Why it matters: Middle managers — i.e. bosses who have bosses — were already quietly going extinct, and now AI may be hastening the process. By the numbers: There are now nearly six individual contributors per manager at the 8,500 small businesses analyzed in a report by Gusto, which handles payroll for small and medium-sized employers. That's up from a little over three in 2019."It's happening broadly across the economy," Nich Tremper, a senior economist at Gusto, told Axios. For small companies, a lot of this happened through attrition, he says. "Rather than replacing a manager, an existing one will just see an expanded scope." (Pity these folks during performance review season.)The big picture: Big tech has been shedding middle managers for the past few years, a process that's been dubbed the Great Flattening. It's not totally clear that AI is replacing the work managers do. Instead, the headcount reduction seems to be a way to cut costs, particularly as companies spend huge sums on AI.Zoom in: Reducing management layers is one of Microsoft's stated goals in laying off thousands of workers this year as it ramps up its AI strategy. Most recently the company announced it was shedding 9,000 employees — a mix of individual contributors and managers.Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced an effort to reduce managers in a memo last year. Google cut the number of vice president and manager roles by 10% last year, according to reporting from Business Insider. And Meta has been "flattening" since 2023's "year of efficiency." State of play: Small businesses in the service sector — including restaurants and other hospitality businesses — were first to this trend, says Tremper.These companies needed to find a way to cut labor costs, as wages soared coming out of the pandemic and interest rates spiked, too. Between the lines: AI may allow for more flattening to come. The use of the technology has freed up managers' time, as their direct reports turn to AI for help instead of their manager, per a recent study highlighted in this month's Harvard Business Review.Meanwhile, supervisors are also increasingly using AI to automate managing, as Axios' Megan Morrone reported earlier this month, though it's not exactly clear how.What to watch: "Flattening" can backfire. Gusto found that industries with more managers had higher worker productivity.Junior employees especially need the training and mentorship that a close relationship with a manager offers, Tremper says.The bottom line: "Middle manager is almost a cultural joke in a lot of ways," Tremper says.But getting rid of them all might not be so funny.

Comments

World news

You can finally keep your shoes on at the airport, say TSA after years of frustrating checks

Independent

Tragic picture shows entire cabin of Camp Mystic girls and counsellors swept away in Texas floods - as death toll rises to over 100

about 3 hours ago

Donald Trump says US will send more weapons to Ukraine after Putin rejects peace talks

Metro

Comments

Similar News

How I Manage My Money: 65-year-old paying back a £24k loan on £1k benefits

Managers are using AI to assess raises, promotions, even layoffs: New study

PwC lines up UK managing partner as new Middle East head

World news

You can finally keep your shoes on at the airport, say TSA after years of frustrating checks

Trump bill gives ICE $45 billion for detaining immigrants - more than it received in the last 15 years combined

One man gored and others bruised in Spain’s bull running festival

US children much more likely to die than in similar countries, study finds

Texas floods mapped: Here are the affected areas as death toll rises

Jon Stewart uses GOP’s own words to skewer lawmakers who voted for Trump’s controversial bill

Scrapped safety proposal for semi-trucks means they can zoom down US highways at top speed

Freak hailstorm batters Croatia as wildfires rage in Balkan countries

Man dies in tragic incident on Milan airport runway

Voices: As the world gets more dangerous – the UK has to build peace through aid as it prepares for war

Who is Brigitte Macron? The wife of French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife to join him on state visit

Resisterville: 50,000 evaders fled the U.S. across the northern border and changed Canada

‘Person killed on runway’ grounds flights at major European airport

Will we know if the next plague is human-made?

How the GOP beat Democrats to a child care win

Philippines summons China's ambassador after Beijing sanctions critical former senator

Trump live: President admits Aug 1 tariff deadline could be extended again after demanding deals from allies

Putin will attack Nato country to keep Europe distracted while Xi invades Taiwan, warns Rutte

Trump compares himself to Truman after Iran attack

Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s PM appears in court on terror charges

UK sanctions Russian weapons bosses for role in Ukraine war

Tragic picture shows entire cabin of Camp Mystic girls and counsellors swept away in Texas floods - as death toll rises to over 100

Donald Trump says US will send more weapons to Ukraine after Putin rejects peace talks

Norman Tebbit, former Tory cabinet minister under Thatcher, dies aged 94

The expert guide to creatine, the supplement said to make you smarter and stronger

Britain is already a prime target for Russia and China – and we are not ready

I’ve seen how we’d respond to a nuclear attack on British soil – it’s devastating

I’ve been a war correspondent for decades – I’m more worried than ever about our safety

Musk's America Party has helpers — and challenges

Managers were already disappearing. Enter AI.

Bill would force ICE agents to ID themselves, ban them from wearing masks

Elon Musk's Trump fallout poses deepening risks to Tesla, SpaceX

Scoop: Senate Republican super PAC smashes fundraising record

Inside Trump's Patriot missile plans for Ukraine

Monsoon floods sweep away 18 people and the main bridge linking Nepal to China

Cairo telecom building fire kills 4 and injures 26

Suspect in shooting of Slovakia’s populist leader Fico stands trial on terror charges

Srebrenica women bury loved ones but remain haunted by memories of 1995 massacre

Officer who shot Australian Aboriginal teen Kumanjayi Walker was racist, inquest finds

Jeffrey Epstein seen shortly before his death in new footage

RFK Jr. promoted a food company he says will make Americans healthy. Their meals are ultraprocessed

Lizard Island coral death reaches 92 per cent after 2024 bleaching event, study finds

Latest ‘Tiger King’ twist as star faces 10 years in prison

Trump gushes over Netanyahu after Nobel Peace Prize nomination: ‘An honour coming from you’

What is going on with Trump’s tariffs? All you need to know as trade deal deadline delayed again

First photos of deadly beef wellington meal cooked by Erin Patterson released

Iran's government says at least 1,060 people were killed in the war with Israel

I sneered at friends’ non-traditional relationships – now I’m the only one divorced

Six no-fly day trips to Europe that are cheaper and faster than a UK train ticket

Japanese Emperor Naruhito meets Mongolian president to boost ties

Mexico's president calls march against mass tourism 'xenophobic'

Colombia's president backtracks on accusations against US officials in letter to Trump

Residents wear masks as volcanic ash blankets villages near erupting volcano

Mexican authorities seize nearly 4 million gallons of stolen fuel

Turkey's youngest oil wrestlers keeping a 14th-century tradition alive

Amazon Prime Day 2025: Shop these top deals before they’re gone!

Emmie Silbery dead: Gogglebox star dies as heartbreaking final six-words revealed

Israeli PM Netanyahu reveals he's nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize

Hull City’s rollercoaster has run out of track

The 10 minutes that showed the Lionesses can get their Euros back on track