Burnout is the scourge of middle management, with nearly half saying they would like to quit within a year due to work-related stress

The mental health problems of middle management are nothing new for executives. During the pandemic, many managers warned they were struggling with their workloads. In October last year, a record-breaking 43% of middle managers said they felt burned out, a survey by Slack Technologies’ Futures Forum found.

“What we’ve seen quarter after quarter is that middle management is struggling,” said Sheela Subramanian, co-founder of Future Forum Bloomberg at that time.

Now, more than half of middle managers surveyed by the Workforce Institute said they wish someone would tell them not to take their current job, and 70% said they would accept a pay cut for a new position that “better supports their mental well-being.”

“The chronic anxiety that comes from working through one global crisis after another is overwhelming for employees,” said Dr. Jarik Conrad, Executive Director of The Workforce Institute at UKG, on the results. “Overwhelm consumes human energy and impacts retention, performance, innovation and culture.”

Why middle managers matter

As many CEOs brace for a recession, the increased focus on employee wellbeing that began during the pandemic is fading in some sectors.

Facebook parent Meta is leaning toward what CEO Mark Zuckerberg is calling his “Year of Efficiency,” putting some middle managers on the chopping block and asking others to move to grassroots positions to help the company cut costs; Elon Musk has opted for an “extremely hardcore” work culture after his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter; and investment banks like Goldman Sachs have aggressively pushed for workers to return to the office.

That said Michael Friedman, managing director of the New York investment firm First Level Capital The Wall Street Journal last November that successful CEOs are getting tired of “all the whining” of employees. But it can make sense for the C-suite to prioritize the mental health of middle management.

“In workplaces around the world, leaders and managers may have more influence over the mental health of their employees than they ever thought possible,” said UKG Workforce Institute researchers. “Managers have as much influence over people’s mental health as their spouses — and even more influence than their doctor or therapist.”

Dissatisfied middle managers could sabotage corporate mental health initiatives by disrupting communication with employees. About 40% of workers are “often” or “always” stressed at work, but 38% “rarely” or “never” talk to their manager about it, the Workforce Institute study shows. And since about 78% of workers say stress negatively impacts their job performance, leaders should pay attention.

Additionally, 64% of employees said they would take a pay cut for a new job that “better supports their mental well-being,” meaning that ignoring middle management’s mental health concerns can be expensive. The cost of replacing an employee these days can often exceed three times their annual salary.

“I think we’re putting so much pressure on the manager and not giving him enough scaffolding,” said Pat Wadors, UKG’s chief people officer wealth‘s Amber Burton and Paolo Confino on Tuesday. “It’s that tension of giving [managers] the fundamental skills, emotional intelligence, compassion, empathy, and listening skills just to be present… That human side of managers isn’t usually in your Manager 101 courses.”

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