The ‘Great Flattening’: 5 Ways To Handle This New Work Trend

The Great Flattening is expanding and its impact could be detrimental to workplaces.

The flattening — eliminating middle managers to cut costs, reduce red tape, and/or simplify organizational charts — started in the tech industry and is now creeping into many more.

Tech giants such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google started flattening their corporate profile last year. Retailers such as Walmart, Wayfair and Starbucks and finance corporations such as HSBC and Ernst & Young, followed suit this year.

And then there’s the federal government’s flattening: the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) work to maximize the efficiency and productivity of the government.

Data on the Great Flattening

To put the private sector’s changes in perspective, consider this: In 2024, middle managers made up 29% of all layoffs, according to job-tracker Live Data Technologies. That was a 30+% spike from 2018 to 2022, when middle managers consistently represented about 20% of annual layoffs.

And companies that aren’t letting middle managers go aren’t hiring them either. Job openings for middle-management roles have fallen by more than 40% since 2022, according to Revelio Labs.

2 Takes on the Great Flattening

So, there are two ways to look at the Great Flattening.

On a positive side, it’s a way to save money, resources and time. It disassembles overly bureaucratic organizations and processes. In theory, things get done more efficiently and quickly. People who might have been stifled under management get a chance to shine.

On the other side, when you remove a layer of management, you also remove a layer of certainty. Some employees need guidance, encouragement and/or a prod to get things done. So in a flattened organization, there are higher risks for miscommunication, mistakes, lost productivity and lower morale.

“Beyond the direct negative impact to middle managers who have to compete for a new job in an already challenged labor market, the greatest suffering will be among individual contributors on teams where middle managers have been made obsolete,” says Brad Smith, Chief Science Officer at meQuilibrium (meQ). “Beyond the negative impact on team mental well-being …. execution of corporate strategy is also likely to suffer. Middle managers have historically been the filterers and translators into action of senior executives’ business-speak.”

What’s the Impact?

The Great Flattening will have consequences. In fact, meQ had some insight before this became a trend.

“meQ’s State of the Workforce studies over the last five years consistently show the pivotal role of the middle manager,” says Smith. “Whether the outcome is burnout, depression, turnover intent, engagement, incivility, hope or any of a number of other indicators of workforce mental well-being, the most consistent predictor of a positive outcome is having a manager who is intentional about looking after team mental well-being.”

So middle managers were already burned out. And when their well-being suffers, their employees will likely, too. Take them out of the picture and everyone suffers more.

“The great flattening is likely to be highly disruptive to direct human contact between employees and leaders,” says Smith. “These changes will disrupt organizational social support networks and place ever-greater demands on remaining leaders.”

Must You Flatten?

While every organization must do what it needs to do to stay afloat, there are things you’ll want to consider before pulling managers from the front line:

• Can other managers absorb some of the management duties?
• Are the employees impacted by the layoffs prepared to navigate work with less guidance?
• How will the layoffs affect morale, productivity and turnover?
• Will employees be able to coordinate and cooperate to meet goals?
• How much realignment will we need to do to ensure we meet goals — and are we able to scale up in time?
• What technology changes will we require, and can we train employees to handle those changes?
• What are we willing to give up to make a flattening work?

“Employers should work to strengthen teams to pave the way for intensified employee-to-employee cooperation,” says Smith. “In addition, employers must ensure that the workforce has adequate access to digital resources and EAPs that can help maintain workforce resilience and mental well-being, and preserve current levels of performance.” 

How to Handle the Great Flattening

Now, let’s say you must flatten. How do you make it work?

Experts at Korn Ferry looked at several medium-sized businesses that learned how to survive — even thrive — without traditional managers. Here’s what they’ve found works:

• Accountability. Employees and senior-level leaders remain accountable to each other and customers. For this to fully work, though, employees must hold themselves accountable to others and be willing to call on colleagues to be accountable or call them out for failing to be.
• Transparency. All information remains transparent to all employees. Through technology, meetings and constant updates, employees and leaders share information they have and seek what they don’t know.
• Incentives. Most — if not all — rewards are team-based. When the team succeeds, the team is rewarded. When there is a failure, everyone knows it, feels it and pays the consequences.
• Skills. Flat companies often push aside egos, degrees and tenure when it comes to keeping and hiring employees. Instead, they focus on problem-solving skills, practical experience and competent decision-making.
• Growth. Despite the structure, successful flat companies emphasize growth and reward employees with opportunities to further succeed.