FLATTENED! What that means to our “beloved” cascade

12 August 2025 Reading Time: 4 minutes

Barbara Jacobs:

Does the cascade work or not?

The answer lies, quite honestly, in the state of middle managers 2025.

In this age of uncertainty, layoffs – especially of middle management – are ramping up.

Big Tech has been the RIF’s (Reduction In Force) leader, citing cost cutting, improved efficiency, increased productivity (AI, not necessarily to blame … this time). For one, Amazon cites the need to manage span of control, with a 15 percent fixed ratio (managers-employees) or about a six-to-ten-person remit. At Gusto, supervisors oversee twice as many workers as five years ago.  And per Mark Zuckerberg: ‘Flatter is faster.’

Walmart, Shopify, and others are not far behind.

The not-so-spoken reasons: Fears of recession, of tariff impacts dominate.

No, none of this is new. But delayering, un-bossification, the Great Flattening or whatever it’s called: The trend is hitting middle managers at a clip not seen in quite a while.  Today the 7,000 here, 7,500 there, and 6,000 wherever add up to a large cut in middle management.

At the same time: Many consulting firms report that our managers are …

• Suffering low engagement (35 percent and more)
• Experiencing high burn-out (71 percent) and more so, by age (Zoomers, 76 percent),
• And spending far less time on direct people management, training, communications.

The universal solve

From Deloitte to KPMG, Gartner to Korn Ferry, experts insist the role be reinvented. Over the years, managers have been relegated to a catch-all position, fielding almost every responsibility from performance and people data management to participating on teams and directing work product. 

Focusing on the most value-added capabilities managers bring is one answer (though, as with most remedies, there’s no agreement about what those capabilities should be).  Overwhelmingly, though, coaching and mentoring accompanied by development and communication are the top must-have skills.

It makes sense.  Good sense. The half-life of hard/tech skills these days, coupled with AI’s growing usage, means that softer skills are and will be much in demand. Precisely those abilities needed to grow an organization — like empathy, creativity, wisdom, strategic problem-solving – are those that must be targeted and developed.

All desired qualities that have been dramatically undercut by the reveals in one mid-manager survey (courtesy of Gallup):

• Lack of training (and/or time to pursue it) = 87 percent
• Time spent per day on direct people management = 41%
• And discomfort in communicating = 69 percent.

Ouch. That last point hurts. 

One specific case stands out. 

While consulting for a medtech company, we cascaded information to managers/people leaders monthly – overall, and in one specific function. Metrics were easier to capture in one department. So we employed all the usual measurement tactics plus included a ‘fun’ quiz about the past month’s content. Only 50 percent knew anything about the content. When we drilled down further, in quick interviews, associates revealed their managers hadn’t shared the information.

[Sharing with associates, by the way, was emphasized in the cover memo, with talking points clearly embedded in the PPT. And further underscored by the department head.]

The cascade: DOA?

Granted, this is only one example.

It’s one, though, that gives us the latitude to pivot. To suggest other tactics to address the fact that, yes, employees prefer to hear from their immediate supervisor. IF they can and will communicate.

Here are a few recommendations.

One. Focus on burnishing mid-manager communications skills.

We hear you say ‘but that should be the aim of individual performance plans.’  Nonetheless, upskilling in communications isn’t necessarily a priority, often ignored due to time pressures.  And senior leaders don’t have the mind space to reinforce that need when other matters like revenue and growth take first place.

Here AI just might play a role – through an avatar. Train it to engage managers, starting simply by rehearsing scripts for messaging.  The back and forths in dialogue will help strengthen confidence.  

That staging can also happen by adopting an ‘each one teach one.’ Identify the best communicators in a cohort. Give them easy-to-use, short directions and scripts and either pair off or learn in a group of middle managers, personally. NOT via video.  Make sure the ‘teachers’ have back- and follow-up so the (ahem) course can be tweaked as needed. Avoid formality. Learning how to communicate should be as natural as, well, breathing.

Yup, it’s a longer-term mission, for sure. On the other hand, communicators need to own it – and not cede to impersonal third-party courses.

Two. Find alternate routes to manager cascading.

If change management capabilities are already in-house, changes are good those leaders have established a super-user/champion network, ready to act on training, communicating, and the like.

Or if those kinds of networks don’t exist, start a posse. Not by going to HR, but by tapping the brains of function and business leaders, asking for names of associates who are at the center, highly engaged, and seen by colleagues as in the know. Run them through accountabilities and next steps, clearly articulating the mandate.  [And make sure to have back-ups, rewards, and all the project responsibilities buttoned up.]

Other options come to mind: 

• Regular color-coded ‘state of the function’ emails from managers (since email, says Axios in its latest survey, is still the number-one communications employees rely on). By pressing a button, employees could schedule a conversation.
• Hand over the messages to team leaders (not mid-managers) who will be meeting often on the business of deliverables and the like.

No doubt, other ideas and solutions exist (and do contribute your own!). 

In the end, if the manager cascade breaks down, for whatever reason, it’s our mission as communicators to ensure the message is written and received and the messenger, trained to deliver.

Barbara Jacobs is an experienced change pragmatist, working across marcom disciplines, change frameworks, and tools to drive the kinds of customized results customers deserve.

Written by: Editor