This article is part of a special podcast series about the challenges and opportunities of returning to the office. See more series→
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Middle management positions have remained submerged since the 1970s.
The reasons for this middle-class workforce's greatest challenges, frustrations, and dissatisfaction were frequently documented by the press in subsequent decades. Fifty years have passed, and frighteningly little has changed.
In 2023 and 2024, headlines like “Middle managers are the least confident ever'', “Why are middle managers so miserable?'', and “How to ease the pressure on middle managers'' will appear. It dominated the news cycle.
So why has this important segment of the organization's workforce seen such modest improvement?
This is what we are working on in Season 3 of The Return by shining a spotlight on a group of workers who have until now been largely ignored and ignored. Middle managers are stressed, overwhelmed, and unhappy. It's time to change the narrative.
To kick off the series, I spoke to Emily Field, a partner in Seattle-based McKinsey's human resources and organizational practice, to define what exactly a middle manager is. She has been researching the topic of managers in depth over the past few years for her recently published book, Power to the Middle: Why Managers Hold the Key to Future of Work.
She discusses why this role is so important to the workforce, how middle managers are emotional saviors, and how their role has evolved to become more challenging. I will tell you in detail.
Over six episodes, Season 3 of The Return explores why middle managers are consistently overwhelmed and what needs to be done to help this employee, perhaps the most important to a company's DNA. Masu.
Management incidents, training needs, where managers can find support, how to navigate difficult conversations, and how AI frees up time to focus on the HR part of management. We will explore topics such as whether it is useful for people.
Season 3 of The Return will be hosted by Digiday Media's senior work-life reporter and Gen Z writer Chloe Callahan and produced by Digiday Media's audio producer Sarah Patterson. Subscribe to the WorkLife Podcast today on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
