Being a middle manager is getting more and more toxic
The 35-year-old, who is based in Michigan, said his job as a middle manager at a staffing company had grown increasingly unbearable over his seven-year tenure.
"I was tired of being stuck between upper management — who became more and more ruthless at enforcing hard metrics designed to root out anyone with a work-life balance, wildly unpopular return to office policies, and layoff after layoff on one side — and employees who wanted more money, more flexibility, and a more relaxed philosophy of work," said Kyle, who asked for partial anonymity due to his fear of professional repercussions.
The last few years have been particularly challenging for many middle managers, whose burnout rates have risen. They've been targeted for layoffs as companies look to cut costs, and those who remain have often been asked to do more with less amid hiring slowdowns. Some face challenges managing remote teams or enforcing return-to-office policies. And with companies scaling back on pay increases and promotions, middle managers are often the bearers of bad news. Some say the job isn't worth it anymore — and are looking for a way out.
"To some degree, middle managers are historically the glue that translates high-level strategy to individual actions that frontline workers execute on," Aaron Terrazas, chief economist at Glassdoor, told Business Insider. "But that glue is becoming a little bit undone in recent months just because there is so much pressure pulling in both opposite directions for that group."
