The shine of the next rung of the corporate ladder has noticeably dimmed at many organizations in recent years.

More than 40% of employees surveyed by Aerotek say they're not interested in becoming a manager, a sentiment that's especially rampant among Gen Z. Robert Walters found 60% of the youngest demographic in the workforce want to remain individual contributors.

From burnout among middle managers to the threat of layoffs and shrinking entry-level talent pools, the traditional path to management has become muddled, and AI is exacerbating the challenge.

Managers are being asked to shoulder the responsibility of AI rollouts: introducing tools, redesigning workflows, navigating adoption resistance—all while delivering results, says Alisson Howell, CEO of Hogan Assessments.

"Rising talent can see that responsibility growing in real time," Howell says. "If organizations add ownership of AI transformation to an already demanding management role without providing greater authority, training or support, promotion may start to look less like a reward and more like accepting responsibility for continuous disruption."

Creating meaning in management

When approached intentionally, AI implementation can actually make the manager role more attractive, Howell says. After all, when the tech can reduce rote, administrative work, it can free managers up for the more "distinctly human aspects" of leading people teams: communication, judgment, coaching and relationship-building.

"The outcome will depend on whether organizations use AI simply to demand greater productivity or to redesign and better support the manager role," Howell says.

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