Nobody Wants to Manage Anymore

Fewer young workers want to become managers, and that's putting companies at risk. Here's how we can fix the missing middle.

- RYAN WONG

As a young computer developer, I had no aspirations of being a manager, let alone a CEO.

When I started my career some 30 years ago, everybody in my field seemed to be following the so-called IBM model of climbing the corporate ladder starting at the entry level for a few years and then hopping from rung to rung into more senior managerial roles. They found that appealing. I did not.

Luckily for me, I worked for a progressive company that understood the need to offer two career paths. You could remain an individual contributor, sometimes leading technical projects, or you could be a manager. I chose the technical track, rising through my field until there was nowhere left to go but the C-suite.

Now that I'm in the role of CEO, I see a huge problem: The average person has no interest in being a manager anymore.

My company, Visier, recently ran a survey of 1,000 full-time employees across the U.S. who are not already in a managerial position. A meager 38% said they were interested in becoming a "people manager" at their current company. This problem crosses industries and borders. We're seeing clients in all lines of work struggle to fill frontline management positions.

It's becoming clear that companies must adapt to fill these gaping voids, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Picture a Jenga tower-there are only so many blocks you can remove from the middle before the top comes crashing down.

Why management roles have grown less attractive

There was a time when the title "Manager" meant prestige, respect, maybe even admiration-a chance to lead, a pathway to the top. But that dynamic has been shifting for decades, and can now feel out-of-touch and out-of-date.