Why Younger Employees Don’t Want to Become Managers and What Employers Can Do

Many younger employees are willing to learn, lead projects and take on greater responsibility, so why is it that younger employees don’t want to become managers?

They have seen managers dealing with excessive workloads, constant organisational change, limited authority and pressure to support employee wellbeing while still delivering commercial results. For many, becoming a manager appears to mean more accountability, less flexibility and a greater risk of burnout.

This creates a serious challenge for employers. Organisations need capable managers to develop talent, maintain engagement and deliver strategy, yet the traditional management career path is becoming less attractive.

The answer is not to pressure more younger employees into management. Employers need to redesign management so that it offers meaningful development, manageable workloads, proper support and a credible reward for taking responsibility.

Why don’t younger employees want to become managers?

Younger employees may be reluctant to become managers because they associate the role with stress, excessive workloads, reduced work-life balance, limited decision-making authority and insufficient financial reward. Many also want career progression without managing direct reports, preferring specialist, project or technical leadership routes.

This does not necessarily indicate a lack of ambition. It may show that younger employees are redefining what career success means and questioning whether traditional management provides the right balance of money, meaning, development and wellbeing.

The management pipeline is under pressure

The evidence suggests that employers cannot assume the next generation will automatically follow the traditional career ladder.

Deloitte’s 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, based on more than 23,000 respondents, found that only 6% of Gen Z respondents regarded reaching a leadership position as their primary career goal. However, the research also found that younger employees continue to value learning, development, career progression, meaningful work and support from their managers.

That distinction matters. Younger employees may not be rejecting ambition or leadership. They may be rejecting a narrow definition of leadership that requires them to become a line manager before they can progress.

At the same time, management remains central to organisational performance. Gallup reports that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team-level employee engagement. Managers influence whether employees understand expectations, receive useful feedback, feel supported and see opportunities to develop.

If fewer employees are willing to become managers, organisations may face:

• Weaker succession pipelines
• Greater reliance on external recruitment
• More inexperienced people being promoted under pressure
• Increased workload for existing managers
• Greater risk of management burnout
• A widening gap between senior leaders and frontline employees

The management pipeline is therefore not just an HR issue. It affects productivity, retention, employee experience and the organisation’s ability to execute its strategy.

Why management has lost its appeal

1. Management appears stressful and under-rewarded

Many managers are expected to absorb pressure from both directions. Senior leaders want results, efficiency and rapid adaptation, while employees expect support, flexibility, development and emotional intelligence.

The manager may be accountable for performance without having sufficient control over staffing, budgets, priorities or organisational decisions. This creates a difficult role: significant responsibility, but not always enough authority to succeed.

The CIPD Good Work Index 2025 found that only 60% of managers reported having the training and information needed to manage people well. Only 59% said they had enough time to do so.

That is a powerful signal to employees considering management. A promotion may appear to offer greater status, but it can also look like an increase in workload without a corresponding increase in authority, support or reward.

2. Younger employees have seen the cost of leadership

Younger workers are watching managers (often their parents) work excessive hours, remain permanently available and carry responsibility for problems they cannot solve. They have also seen managers deal with redundancies, restructures, technology changes and conflicting priorities.

The workplace environment described in a recent article is particularly demanding. Managers are expected to navigate tighter budgets, hybrid working, artificial intelligence, changing employee expectations and continuing organisational uncertainty.

This makes management seem less like an opportunity to influence and develop people and more like a buffer between senior leadership and the rest of the organisation.

If the most visible managers appear exhausted, unsupported and unable to switch off, younger employees are unlikely to see management as an attractive career choice.

3. The traditional career ladder no longer fits everyone

The traditional career model assumes that progression means moving from individual contributor to supervisor, then manager, director and executive.

That model is increasingly being replaced by a more flexible career landscape involving specialist, project, portfolio and entrepreneurial routes. An employee may want to deepen their technical expertise, lead major projects, mentor colleagues or become a recognised specialist without taking on permanent line-management responsibility.

Employers should not interpret this as a lack of commitment. An employee who does not want direct reports may still be highly ambitious and capable of making a substantial contribution.

The mistake is to treat management as the only credible form of advancement.

4. Younger employees want development, not just promotion

A title change is not the same as development.

Deloitte found that learning and development is among the strongest reasons Gen Z and millennials choose an employer. The research also found that younger employees want managers to provide guidance, inspiration and mentoring, not simply oversight of daily tasks.

This suggests that younger employees may not reject leadership development. They may reject being promoted into management without proper preparation.

Effective preparation should include opportunities to practise:

• Delegation
• Feedback
• Conflict resolution
• Coaching
• Decision-making
• Prioritisation
• Performance management
• Communication during change

A two-day course after promotion is unlikely to provide enough support. Future managers need opportunities to understand and practise leadership before they become responsible for a team.

How workplace culture affects management motivation

Culture influences whether people see management as desirable, sustainable and worthwhile.

The Harvard Business Review article How Company Culture Shapes Employee Motivation highlights the connection between culture and the way people experience work. Culture is not simply a set of values displayed on a wall. It is reflected in the behaviours that are rewarded, tolerated and repeated.

Employees learn what management really means by observing managers, not by reading leadership principles.

If the visible culture rewards:

• Long hours and constant availability
• Individual heroics rather than collaboration
• Short-term results at the expense of people
• Avoidance of difficult conversations
• Compliance rather than constructive challenge
• Promotion without adequate support

then younger employees may reasonably conclude that management is not a healthy or attractive career choice.

By contrast, if managers are trusted, developed and recognised for building capable teams, management becomes easier to respect and more likely to attract interest.

A leadership pipeline is therefore built through everyday management practices. Employers cannot promote management as a positive career path while allowing poor management behaviour to remain normal.

What employers can do

1. Redesign the management role

The first step is to examine what managers actually do, what they are accountable for and whether they have the authority and resources required to deliver.

A management role that combines operational delivery, recruitment, performance management, wellbeing support, change communication and administration may simply be overloaded.

Employers should ask:

• How many direct reports is reasonable?
• Which tasks can be removed, automated or delegated?
• Does the manager control the resources required to meet expectations?
• Is the role achievable within contracted hours?
• Are managers rewarded for developing people, not just delivering numbers?
• Do managers have access to HR, coaching and specialist support?

Management should not be treated as an additional responsibility added to an already full individual-contributor role.

2. Offer credible alternatives to line management

A strong organisation needs both managers and specialists. It should create dual career pathways that allow people to progress through:

• People leadership
• Technical or professional expertise
• Project and programme leadership
• Client, commercial or strategic responsibility
• Coaching and mentoring

This prevents employers from forcing high-performing employees into management simply because there is no other way to advance.

It also makes management more attractive because people can choose it for the right reasons, rather than accepting it as the only available route to higher pay or status.

Career alternatives should not be treated as consolation prizes. A technical specialist or project leader should be able to earn recognition, influence and financial progression without needing to become a line manager.

3. Introduce management gradually

The leap from individual contributor to full people manager can be unnecessarily large.

Employers can create transitional opportunities such as:

• Leading a project team
• Acting as a buddy or mentor
• Coordinating a short-term initiative
• Chairing team meetings
• Taking responsibility for a defined process
• Supervising an apprentice or graduate
• Participating in an emerging-leader programme
• Deputising for a manager during planned absence

These experiences help employees understand whether they enjoy leadership and identify the skills they need to develop.

They also allow employers to assess potential more accurately than relying on confidence, technical performance or willingness to work long hours.

4. Select for management potential, not technical excellence alone

The strongest individual contributor is not automatically the strongest manager. Management requires a different combination of skills, including judgement, empathy, communication, resilience, organisation and the ability to help other people perform.

Gallup identifies management strengths including motivation, workstyle, initiating action, collaboration and analytical thinking. It also emphasises that successful management depends on both natural tendencies and ongoing development.

Selection processes should explore questions such as:

• Does the candidate genuinely want to help others succeed?
• Can they give clear and respectful feedback?
• Are they willing to delegate rather than retain control?
• Can they handle disagreement without becoming defensive?
• Do they create clarity when priorities are uncertain?
• Can they balance empathy with accountability?
• Are they comfortable making decisions with incomplete information?

Potential should be assessed through observed behaviour, structured interviews and practical exercises rather than assumptions based on tenure or technical achievement.

5. Provide continuous manager development

Manager development should begin before promotion and continue throughout the employee’s leadership journey.

Gallup distinguishes between training and development. Training may be a short-term intervention, while development builds repeatable habits and supports sustained behavioural change. Effective manager development helps managers coach employees, provide feedback, resolve conflict and create accountability.

A practical development programme might include:

• Pre-promotion self-assessment
• Shadowing an experienced manager
• Training in core people-management skills
• Monthly peer learning groups
• Regular mentoring or coaching
• Role-play for difficult conversations
• Access to HR guidance
• Reflection after significant management events
• Six- and twelve-month transition reviews

Younger managers may particularly benefit from support in establishing authority without copying outdated command-and-control behaviours.

The question should not be, “Has this person attended a management course?” It should be, “What positive leadership behaviours is this person practising and what support will help those behaviours become consistent?”

6. Give managers time to manage

One of the most damaging contradictions in management is expecting managers to develop people while measuring them almost entirely on immediate operational output.

Deloitte reports that managers spend a significant proportion of their time solving immediate problems and completing administrative tasks, leaving relatively little time for developing their people.

Employers should protect time for:

• One-to-one conversations
• Coaching and feedback
• Team development
• Workforce planning
• Recognition
• Relationship-building
• Reflection and learning

If these activities are treated as optional extras, they will be displaced by urgent operational work. Yet they are central to engagement, performance and retention.

This is also an important message for future managers. They need to see that people leadership is considered real work, not something to be squeezed into the margins of an already overloaded role.

7. Build a coaching culture

Younger employees are often looking for managers who provide guidance, context and development rather than simply monitoring activity.

The manager’s role should therefore move from “boss” to coach. This does not mean avoiding accountability or difficult decisions. It means helping people understand expectations, identify obstacles, use their strengths and take ownership of outcomes.

Useful management habits include:

• Agreeing clear expectations at the start of a role or project
• Holding brief, regular check-ins rather than relying on annual reviews
• Asking what is helping or obstructing progress
• Giving specific feedback close to the event
• Recognising contribution and improvement
• Discussing career interests openly
• Creating space for employees to offer ideas and challenge assumptions

Gallup’s manager-development research recommends that effective managers establish expectations, continually coach and create accountability. It also reports that employees who receive regular, meaningful feedback are more likely to be engaged than those who receive feedback only occasionally.

A younger employee may be more willing to consider management if they see it as an opportunity to develop people and improve the working environment, rather than simply enforce targets.

8. Be honest about the pressures

Employers should not oversell management as an effortless route to influence or status.

Younger candidates are likely to respond better to an honest description of the role. That means explaining:

• The decisions managers will need to make
• The emotional demands of the role
• The level of responsibility involved
• The support available
• The expectations around working hours and availability
• How success will be measured
• What happens when priorities conflict

Transparency builds trust. It also helps potential managers make an informed decision and reduces the risk of early failure caused by unrealistic expectations.

A useful question for a potential manager is, “What would make this role attractive to you, and what would make you hesitate?”

The answer may reveal that the employee is interested in coaching and leadership but concerned about workload, pay, flexibility or a lack of preparation. Those concerns should be addressed rather than dismissed.

9. Improve pay, recognition and progression

If management brings greater responsibility but little financial or professional benefit, employees will understandably decline it.

Employers should review whether management roles provide:

• A meaningful salary differential
• Recognition for people development
• Access to leadership forums and decision-making
• Time and budget for development
• Clear progression beyond first-line management
• Flexible working arrangements
• Practical support during periods of high demand

Reward alone will not solve the management pipeline problem, but inadequate reward can reinforce the perception that management is high-stress, low-reward work.

Financial security is particularly relevant to younger workers. Deloitte found that 48% of Gen Z respondents and 46% of millennials did not feel financially secure in 2025.

Employers should therefore avoid presenting management as a sacrifice made for future rewards that may never materialise.

10. Make wellbeing part of performance

Wellbeing should not be presented as an optional benefit that managers are expected to deliver without support. It needs to be built into job design, workload planning and leadership expectations.

The CIPD Good Work Index 2025 found that about a quarter of UK workers said their work had a negative effect on their mental health, with a similar proportion reporting a negative effect on their physical health. Excessive workloads, stress, exhaustion and poor workplace relationships were associated with worse outcomes.

This has direct implications for the management pipeline. If younger employees believe accepting management means sacrificing their health, they will continue to avoid it.

Employers should:

• Monitor workload, not simply output
• Set clear expectations about availability
• Train managers to discuss wellbeing appropriately
• Provide access to professional support
• Encourage managers to take leave
• Treat excessive hours as a job-design problem
• Hold senior leaders accountable for the climate they create

A healthy management role is not one without pressure. It is one in which pressure is recognised, prioritised and supported.

A practical four-stage leadership pipeline

Employers can create a gradual pathway for developing future managers.

The key principle is that leadership capability should be developed before a vacancy appears.

Waiting until a manager resigns creates pressure to promote the person who is most available, rather than the person who is best prepared.

The role of senior leaders

Senior leaders have a particular responsibility because younger employees judge management by the example set at the top.

If executives talk about wellbeing but reward constant availability, the message is clear. If they promote individuals who deliver results by exhausting their teams, employees will notice. If they expect middle managers to communicate difficult decisions without providing context, they undermine trust.

Senior leaders should;

• Model healthy boundaries
• Explain organisational decisions honestly
• Give managers advance information before major change
• Involve managers in shaping solutions
• Recognise people leadership as a business result
• Ask managers what is preventing them from managing well
• Act on recurring workload and resourcing problems

The manager experience is shaped by the wider organisation. No training programme can compensate for an operating model that consistently overloads managers and removes their ability to make decisions.

FAQ’s

Do younger employees lack ambition?

No. Reluctance to become a manager does not necessarily indicate a lack of ambition. Younger employees may want to learn, influence decisions, lead projects or become recognised experts without taking on permanent line-management responsibility.

How can employers encourage younger employees to become managers?

Employers can make management more attractive by offering realistic job design, better preparation, mentoring, protected management time, fair reward and a clear explanation of the role’s responsibilities and benefits.

Should every high-performing employee become a manager?

No. Technical excellence does not automatically translate into management capability or motivation. Employers should assess whether an individual genuinely wants to develop people and take responsibility for team performance.

What are the alternatives to a traditional management career path?

Alternative routes include technical expertise, project leadership, professional specialism, client leadership, coaching, mentoring and strategic roles without permanent line-management responsibility.

How can organisations build a stronger management pipeline?

They can identify potential early, provide practical leadership opportunities, develop managers before promotion, offer structured support during the transition and regularly review workload, wellbeing and management capability.

What skills do younger managers need?

Younger managers need skills in communication, coaching, delegation, feedback, conflict resolution, prioritisation, decision-making and performance management. They also need the confidence to create accountability while maintaining trust.

Management needs a better proposition

The reluctance of younger employees to become managers is not simply a generational attitude problem. It is feedback and learned experience on the way management has been designed and experienced.

Younger workers still want to learn, grow, contribute and influence outcomes. Deloitte’s research shows that they value development, mentorship, purpose, financial security and wellbeing. The evidence suggests that they are not rejecting leadership itself, they are questioning a version of leadership associated with burnout, limited autonomy and constant pressure.

Employers that want to attract the next generation of managers should focus on four priorities:

1. Redesign management roles so that responsibility is matched by authority and support
2. Provide genuine career alternatives for people who want progression without direct reports
3. Develop potential through mentoring, practical experience and continuous coaching
4. Make wellbeing, flexibility, recognition and manageable workloads part of the management proposition

The organisations most likely to build strong leadership pipelines will not be those that pressure more people to climb the old ladder. They will be those that create a broader, healthier and more credible definition of career progress, one in which management is challenging, purposeful and genuinely worth choosing.

A recruitment and mentoring perspective

In recruitment and mentoring conversations, reluctance to enter management is often less about unwillingness to lead and more about uncertainty over what leadership will cost. Understanding what it is that motivates candidates (both internal and external) at work can be a significant signal of their management potential.

Candidates may be interested in influence, coaching and decision-making, but not in inheriting an unrealistic workload or becoming responsible for problems they cannot control. Employers that explore these concerns openly are more likely to identify genuine leadership potential and create management roles that people are prepared to choose.