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Is There Still Value in the Role of Managers? | Trend #8 from 2025 Global Human Capital Trends | Deloitte (2025)

“Bossless” is trendy. But what if the real issue isn’t having managers—it's what we’ve asked them to be?

This article from Deloitte’s 2025 Global Human Capital Trends challenges the widespread assumption that flattening hierarchies leads to agility. It proposes a third way: reinventing the manager role to match today’s AI-augmented, people-powered world. At stake is not just the structure of leadership but the future of how organisations grow, adapt and thrive.

📊 DID YOU KNOW?

👀 DID YOU SEE?

The figure below shows that nearly 40% of managers’ time is spent on administration and firefighting, leaving limited capacity for coaching, strategy, or innovation. It highlights the urgent need to redesign the manager role around higher-value, human-centred activities.

✨ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In their article, Sue Cantrell, Lauren Kirby, Nic Scoble-Williams, Joan Goodwin, and Andy Bayiates unpack the global redefinition of management. Drawing on insights from Deloitte’s latest Global Human Capital Trends survey—nearly 10,000 leaders across 93 countries—the article confronts the rising trend of “unbossing,” which seeks to flatten hierarchies by reducing or removing middle management.

While the move promises efficiency and empowerment, the authors argue it often delivers confusion, over-centralisation, and burnout. Their call to action? Don’t eliminate the role—reinvent it. That means equipping managers to coach, redesign work, and lead strategic adaptation in an AI-enhanced world. The new cornerstone of this role is judgment:

Far from irrelevant, redefined and supported managers are critical to unlocking sustainable performance.

🔍 WHY IT MATTERS

↳ The middle is collapsing—but leadership remains essential. Flattening hierarchies is often driven by cost pressure and agility goals. However, removing managers can create hidden leadership vacuums and stall decisions rather than accelerate them.

↳ AI is transforming work—but not replacing judgement. With over 80% of workers now engaging with AI, leaders must redesign work processes and guide human-machine collaboration. Managers are uniquely positioned to do this—if they are equipped.

↳ Burnout is eroding management's appeal. Over 40% of managers report a decline in mental health post-promotion. In Japan, 72% of workers say they no longer want a management role. Leadership is losing its allure—and this is a talent risk.

↳ Without clarity, “bossless” becomes chaotic. Organisations that adopt flat structures without redefining leadership often fall into “shadow hierarchies” and centralised bottlenecks. Flattening without function weakens agility.

↳ Reinvented managers unlock People Sustainability. As skill half-lives shrink and volatility increases, organisations need people-centred leaders who can coach, connect, and navigate complexity—not control.

💡 KEY INSIGHTS

↳ Cutting management is a tempting shortcut—but often a strategic misstep. US employers advertised 42% fewer middle manager roles in 2024 compared to 2022. But this often shifts decision-making upwards, undermining agility.

↳ Strong management drives results—and retention. Effective coaching can boost performance by up to 27%, and employees are 1.5x more likely to exceed their goals when managers support their development.

↳ Judgement is the skill of the future. It underpins all other capabilities—coaching, redesign, agility—and requires experience, empathy, and contextual awareness. It cannot be automated.

↳ AI is a co-pilot—not a replacement. From real-time feedback to strategic decision support, AI can help managers shift from task execution to leadership—if roles are redesigned, not just digitised.

↳ Innovative companies are already redefining management. From Michelin’s empowerment model to Telstra’s split of people and project leadership, new paradigms are emerging that separate “doing” from “leading”.

🚀 ACTIONS FOR LEADERS

↳ Redefine what it means to manage. Shift from role ambiguity to role clarity. Focus manager responsibilities on people, performance, and purposeful leadership—not execution or admin.

↳ Equip managers to lead with judgment. Develop judgement through structured experience, decision-making simulations, and reflective learning—not just classroom training.

↳ Use AI to empower, not overwhelm. Provide managers with AI tools that generate insights—on team dynamics, individual performance, and collaboration patterns—without removing their human discretion.

↳ Separate leadership from the workload. Reconsider spans of control and separate project supervision from people development, as Telstra and consulting firms have done successfully.

↳ Recognise and reward outstanding leadership. Build incentives around coaching, culture-building, and agility—not just KPIs. Reinforce that leadership is performance.

💬 QUESTION FOR THE BOARDROOM

🔗 CONCLUSION

In a world where AI accelerates tasks but not trust, where structures flatten but complexity deepens, the role of the manager must evolve—not vanish. Deloitte’s article offers a timely reminder: it’s not about having fewer managers but better ones. Judgement, adaptability, and empathy are the new cornerstones of leadership.

Organisations that reinvent management—clarifying the role, enabling human–AI partnership, and cultivating critical thinking—will be best placed to lead in the era of AI. Those that don’t risk losing both leadership capability and the trust of their workforce.

For sustainable performance, we must not ask, “Do we still need managers?”
We must ask, “How do we help them lead what only humans can?”

🎯 KEY TAKEAWAY

📚 READ

🎧 TUNE IN

If this trend had an anthem, it would be “Pressure” by Muse.

“Pressure building, falling faster…”

That’s the lived reality for today’s managers.

Expected to inspire, deliver, care, and coach — all at once.
Held accountable for outcomes. Given little support to succeed.
Trapped in a role that keeps expanding, while their authority keeps shrinking.

This trend doesn’t ask whether managers matter.
It asks whether the system around them is still fit for purpose.

Muse gave us the lyric.
Now it’s time for leaders to stop piling on — and start designing a role that works.

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