Day: July 27, 2025

• Middle managers are facing layoffs, and those who remain are taking on extra work.
• BI wants to talk to middle managers about their experience at work or job hunting.
• Share your experience by filling out a quick form.

Middle managers are the talk of corporate America lately — and Business Insider wants to hear about it.

Tech giants like Google and Microsoft, alongside major retailers like Walmart, are looking for ways to cut costs and streamline bureaucracy. Enter, the Great Flattening: A widespread wipeout of mid-career jobs.

Laid-off managers are pushed into a rocky job market, and those who remain employed are left with an increasing number of direct reports. Millennials and Gen X, who hold most of the US’ managerial roles, are most impacted.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees in June he plans to shrink the company’s white-collar workforce, citing “efficiency gains.” After a round of layoffs, Dell told BI in March that “Through an ongoing series of actions, we are becoming a leaner company,” which will include combining some teams. And, alongside a bout of Meta layoffs in 2023, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that “flatter is faster.”

“I don’t think you want a management structure that’s just managers managing managers, managing managers, managing managers, managing the people who are doing the work,” he said.

If you are a middle manager — or you report to a middle manager — and are comfortable being interviewed for future reporting, please fill out this quick Google form. BI will contact you if we are interested in your story.

If you can’t see the survey, fill it out here or reach out to this reporter securely via Signal at alliekelly.10.