Employees Are Increasingly Reluctant to Become Managers: Why Middle Management Roles Are Losing Their Appeal

More and more often, companies are facing a situation in which their most talented specialists decline promotions. Recruitment experts are observing a worrying trend: people are reluctant to take on middle management roles not due to a lack of ambition, but because of organizational cultures that embed a built-in “burnout system.” Evelina Latyšovič, Head of Business Operations at ManpowerGroup Lithuania, a global workforce solutions company, notes that today the role of a middle manager is increasingly becoming a trap rather than a step up the career ladder –responsibility without real authority.

Although public discourse often focuses on generational differences, HR experts emphasize that the refusal to become a middle manager is not related to an employee’s age. According to Latyšovič, the reluctance to lead is often not an assessment of one’s own personality, but rather an evaluation of organizational culture. For example, when employees see that management provides no support, they choose a safer path. In some cases, even employees who have already tried a leadership role – or who have closely observed what it entails for many years – choose not to pursue it.

“Our practice shows that this phenomenon is most often a systemic response to widespread burnout, chaotic organizational structures, and unrealistically high expectations in today’s labor market. People assess that the disadvantages of middle management outweigh the benefits. Even higher salaries or additional perks do not compensate for the risks involved: constant stress, responsibility for both personal and team mistakes, and sometimes even the loss of work–life balance,” says Latyšovič.

The Middle Management Trap: Responsibility Without Power

In this position, managers become intermediaries between two worlds: senior leadership and their own teams.

“Middle managers are expected to represent the interests of both sides, but the reality is that enormous expectations are placed on them while they are given very limited resources and decision-making authority. From this position, a manager is expected not only to lead and motivate a team, but also to continue performing a significant amount of operational work,” explains Latyšovič.

“In practice, it looks very down-to-earth: a person is offered a promotion, but along with it comes an ‘invisible’ part of the job – constant availability, conflict management, and the implementation of urgent changes ‘starting tomorrow.’ This workload often leads to additional overtime, which is frequently hidden from higher-level management. As a result, the specialist understands that the new role means not only a higher salary, but also becoming ‘responsible for everything’– even when decisions, priorities, or resources are beyond their control,” she adds.

For these reasons, stress levels among people in leadership roles are also rising. As many as 71% of leaders worldwide report that their stress levels increased significantly after stepping into managerial roles, according to the world’s largest leadership study, Global Leadership Forecast 2025.

A Common Mistake Made by Many Lithuanian Companies

Latyšovič points out that a flawed promotion model is still prevalent in Lithuania: employees are “thrown” into managerial roles without any preparation.

“The typical scenario is this: one week you are performing regular specialist-level duties, and a few weeks later you may already become a manager. The employee’s job title is changed, their salary increased, and it is assumed that they will automatically know how to lead. However, no one teaches them how to organize team work, conduct difficult conversations, hire or fire employees, or create a motivation system based on objective and achievable results. The person is left alone, and when mistakes occur, their competence and performance are evaluated – often using the English term ‘performance’ – even though in reality the biggest influence on those mistakes is the organizational system itself, which failed to provide the necessary tools and proper onboarding into the new role,” the expert emphasizes.

A survey conducted by the global research and consulting firm Gartner shows that nearly three out of four middle managers feel exhausted, and 40% of managers who have recently taken on these roles are already looking for new jobs.

Therefore, if companies want strong leaders, they must change their approach to leadership. According to Latyšovič, today the priority should not be simply hiring new managers, but educating and empowering existing employees before promoting them.

The Key Is Attention and Strengthening Leadership Skills

To make middle management roles more attractive, organizations need to change their structure, responsibilities, and leadership logic. According to Latyšovič, the first step must be a clear definition of boundaries and decision-making authority.

“If organizations want middle management roles to become more appealing, they must fundamentally reassess the expectations placed on them. Managers must be given real decision-making power, not just a formal obligation to implement decisions made by others. A person cannot be held responsible for results if they lack real autonomy to achieve them,” she says.

Equally important is the organization’s approach to supporting middle managers. If support is limited to occasional training sessions or standard onboarding programs, managers are essentially left alone to deal with complex situations.

“Managers need emotional support and the opportunity to consult with mentors, senior leaders, or peers without fear of appearing weak. Only then does real psychological safety emerge – the kind that enables decisive actions, which fast-growing organizations truly need,” says Latyšovič.

Finally, the preparatory period before an employee becomes a middle manager is also critically important. Latyšovič notes that potential managers should be given the opportunity to “try on” the role – by shadowing an existing manager, substituting for them during vacations, leading meetings, or observing complex decision-making processes up close. This allows individuals to make decisions based on reality rather than assumptions.

“Fear of leadership often stems from uncertainty and from observing negative examples. If an organization creates a safe culture where mistakes are treated as lessons rather than verdicts, and where a manager is not left alone on the battlefield, there will certainly be no shortage of talents who are both willing and truly prepared to take on responsibility,” concludes Latyšovič.