Imagine being promoted to manage people, only to discover you spend less than half your time actually managing them. Picture feeling so unsupported in your role that you’re secretly planning your escape, even as your company depends on you to bridge the gap between senior leadership’s vision and your team’s daily reality.
These are more than hypothetical scenarios. They’re the lived experience of middle managers across industries worldwide. While organizations focus on retaining top talent and developing senior executives, an entire layer of leadership is quietly struggling, burning out, and planning their exit strategies.
At Team Simon, we recently surveyed 971 middle managers across scores of industries around the world. The findings, detailed in our new report, “The Top 10 Things Middle Managers Desperately Need (But Are Afraid to Ask For),” reveal a crisis that most organizations don’t even realize they have.
The data tells a story about colleagues, friends, and perhaps even ourselves—people caught between the ambitions of becoming senior leaders and the daily reality of getting things done with actual humans, all with very little training or support from the companies they work for.
These statistics represent the hidden struggles of the people who make organizations run, and they reveal why so many companies are losing their most valuable asset: the leaders who actually lead. Here are six stats from the report that may change how you view middle management.
1. 75% Are Experiencing Burnout
Making them the most stressed level in any organization
Three out of four middle managers are burning out. Not stressed. Not overwhelmed. Burning out. This isn’t a temporary challenge. It’s a systematic crisis that’s making middle managers the most miserable people in corporate life. They’re absorbing pressure from above while shielding their teams below, all while managing their own emotional overwhelm with little to no support.
Why this matters: Burnout is more than a personal problem. It’s contagious. Research shows that managers account for 70% of variance in employee engagement, meaning burned-out managers create burned-out teams in a cascading effect throughout the organization.
2. They Spend Only 41% of Their Time Actually Managing People
The rest is consumed by administrative tasks
We promote people to management positions, then bury them in spreadsheets, reports, and administrative duties. Middle managers are spending most of their time on tasks that don’t require management expertise, while the actual work of developing people, building culture, and driving performance gets squeezed into the margins.
Why this matters: When managers can’t manage, everything suffers. Teams become directionless, talent goes undeveloped, and the single biggest factor in employee engagement—quality of management—deteriorates.
3. 27.2% Are Actively Working on Their Exit Strategy
More than 1 in 4 are planning their escape
While companies focus on retention strategies, over a quarter of their middle managers are actively looking for the door. These aren’t disgruntled employees. These are the people organizations promoted because of their performance and potential. Yet they see no future at their current companies and are planning their professional escape routes.
Why this matters: Replacing a middle manager costs up to 200% of their salary. When you factor in lost institutional knowledge, team disruption, and the time to rebuild relationships, the true cost is astronomical.
4. Nearly Half (43.2%) Are Fundamentally Disconnected from Work
23.6% feel uninspired, 10.8% actively dislike the culture
This isn’t about having a bad day or needing a vacation. Nearly half of all middle managers have lost their connection to their work entirely. They’re going through the motions while feeling uninspired, dealing with interpersonal conflicts, or actively disliking their company culture.
Why this matters: Disconnected managers create disconnected teams. When the people responsible for motivating others have lost their own motivation, the ripple effects reach every corner of the organization.
5. Self-Confidence Is Both Their #1 Challenge AND Their #1 Goal
27.2% identify building confidence as their most critical need
The irony is staggering: the people we’ve entrusted to lead others feel fundamentally unsure of themselves. Nearly a third of all middle managers report that self-confidence is simultaneously their biggest challenge and their most important goal. They’re expected to project authority and make decisions while secretly feeling like imposters.
Why this matters: Insecure leaders create insecure teams. When managers don’t trust their own judgment, they can’t inspire confidence in others or make the bold decisions that drive business results.
6. Organizations Lose $15.4 Billion Annually Due to Middle Manager Turnover
With replacement costs reaching 200% of departing managers’ salaries
The financial impact is staggering. This isn’t just about the cost of recruiting and training replacements—it’s about the lost productivity, disrupted projects, and damaged team morale that comes when middle managers leave. Yet most organizations continue to treat middle management as a cost center rather than a strategic investment.
Why this matters: The same research shows that organizations with strong middle management see 3-21 times higher returns. The choice isn’t whether to invest in middle managers—it’s whether to profit from that investment or pay the cost of neglecting it.
The Opportunity
While these statistics paint a grim picture, there’s reason for hope buried in the data. Middle managers aren’t giving up. They’re asking for help. 40% are desperately seeking purpose in their work. 22% want to level up their leadership skills. They’re not just going through the motions; they’re actively seeking meaning and growth.
The organizations that recognize this moment as an opportunity rather than just a crisis will be the ones that emerge stronger. Because when companies invest in developing confident, purpose-driven, well-supported middle managers, everything else gets easier.
If you’re looking for ways you can support your own middle managers, shoot us a note here. And feel free to read the report here.
