Middle managers are feeling the pressure of flattened corporate structures. HR can help.

A promotion into management may not be the step up the corporate ladder that it once was.

As companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft flatten corporate structures and downsize middle management, some managers have more work and more direct reports than ever before.

The average number of direct reports per manager was 12.1 in 2025, according to recent Gallup data. That’s up from 10.9 in 2024, and a 50% increase from 2013, when Gallup first collected this data. While 66% of managers oversee fewer than 10 employees, 22% of them lead teams of 10–24, while 13% manage 25 or more employees.

“It isn’t happening in every organization yet, so there’s a certain percentage of organizations that are affecting the overall average,” Jim Harter, chief workplace scientist at Gallup, said. “But, if you’re going to flatten an organization more than it currently is, then there are some parameters that make it work.”

Structural problems. Managers are most effective when they spend no more than 40% of their time on individual contributor work, according to Gallup. The majority of their time, Harter told HR Brew, should be dedicated to people management.

“If you do have more people that you’re managing than you can have at least one meaningful conversation a week with, then you might be managing too many people,” Harter said. “That could lead to more burnout. Could lead to levels of engagement and more detachment.”

But no matter the size of the team, middle managers aren’t having enough conversations with their employees, according to Ashley Herd, founder of consultancy Manager Method and author of the forthcoming book The Manager Method: A Practical Framework to Lead, Support, and Get Results.

“A lot of managers have these concerns of doing or saying the wrong thing,” Herd told HR Brew. “The gap I often see isn’t people actually doing or saying the wrong thing, it’s that they don’t do enough. They don’t know what to say, so there’s silence or not having conversations with people.”

What can HR do? If a company is considering flattening middle management, Harter said, it’s up to its HR team to address these structural issues. “If you flatten the wrong way, and you don’t either select the right managers or give them the skills to manage effectively, then they’re going to be more likely to burn out and to feel separated from the organization,” he said.

Training and development, Harter said, can be crucial in helping managers learn to effectively communicate with employees.

Herd said she advises HR and managers to follow a three-step framework: pause, consider, and act. When it feels like speed is a top priority, she said every manager should pause before reacting. Then consider, with empathy, how others might react and feel, and act, in response to employees’ questions or concerns.

“Those three steps can really help in situations, including as your team is expanding,” Herd said. “While it can feel stressful for you…you may not think about how that actually probably feels stressful for your teams too.”

As AI continues to impact managers’ roles, Herd said not to underestimate the value of human communication.

“It is amazing how rare it is, at times, for someone to have a manager that knows their name, spells their name correctly, shows up for one-on-ones, shows up for one-on-ones on time, as opposed to being 20 minutes late,” she said. “Those basic things, they can have such an impact, more than you think, and, as a manager, your role is to create that ripple effect.”