Woman Breaks Down Why Nobody Wants To Be A Manager Anymore, Goes Viral

Traditionally, the role of manager is coveted, with people going out of their way to compete for it. But recently, many employees have started to stay away from these positions like the plague. TikToker and career consultant Kyyah Abdul broke down all the reasons why Millennials and Gen Z employees are avoiding management roles.

People in the comments shared their thoughts and had a robust discussion about the state of younger worker’s decision-making. We got in touch with Kyyah Abdul and she was kind enough to answer some of our questions.
More info: TikTok

This entire discussion was sparked by a survey of American workers done by "Entrepreneur", which discovered that the majority of employees value their work-life balance and mental health too much to consider a leadership role. Workers are aware that companies are putting more and more pressure on managers, while not adequately compensating them for the increases in stress. Most workers do not actually want to reach the top of a company's hierarchy, and see the roll of manager are just a complicated stepping stone.

In general, workers do not trust leadership at all, with another survey conducted by Gallup finding that only 21% of employees have confidence in their management. No wonder people are not lining up to put themselves in those positions. This is perhaps another nuance to the now constant cliche of “nobody wants to work anymore.”

Bored Panda got in touch with Kyyah Abdul and she was willing to share some more thoughts on this question. First, we wanted to hear what she thought about middle management's workload. "Generally speaking I do think mid-level management has always done “most” of the work. It may feel as though it’s a recent development because so many people are becoming more aware of the reality."

"I don't think Gen X will retire for quite some time. The oldest Gen X member is about 59 years old and even when some reach the retirement age they may not be able to because of the impact poor economies have had on generations. Gen X parents are having to take care of their millennial and Gen Z children for longer as their children have struggled to integrate into the workforce successfully. They also have not had the opportunity to reach their maximum earnings potential because baby boomers will not retire. This is where the standstill and halt is occurring impact those after them. Once they retire then Gen X will get their chance, if they choose, and then Millennials. There’s no telling how long Gen Z will have to wait," she shared.

While Kyyah Abdul isn’t wrong to call the position of manager an “internship” for a higher, leadership role, it can also be seen as the equivalent of customer support. While many companies do need customer support roles to actually conduct business, it’s an open secret that this position in many ways exists just to insulate upper management from the complaints of users, clients, or buyers.

In the same way, managers fill this role for leadership in many organizations. They have to make the tough calls and face employee backlash when budgets are cut, even though, often enough, they actually aren’t the ones ultimately responsible for the changes at the end of the day. Yes, they might be paid more and receive more benefits, but, often enough, the increase in wages is not proportional to the stress and workload then placed upon them.

In the past, some people would be willing to bite the bullet for a few years and just tough it out until they can get promoted out of management. But, as Kyyah Abdul mentioned in her video, the people in those upper roles aren’t exactly moving out with any haste. The result is that people end up stuck in management positions that they do not like and often can’t leave without taking a significant cut to their income.

At the same time, as the survey conducted by “Entrepreneur” indicated, upper management is putting more of a workload on middle managers, something most millennial workers in associate positions are well aware of. While US workers in particular are generally not the most open about their salaries, most folks can at least approximate where they stand in relation to their managers.

The evidence would suggest that most people do not find this increase in pay and responsibilities worth it. Unless you are a career-driven person with the goal of reaching an executive position, being a manager has very little appeal. Others, quite correctly, understand that just because they are good at their job does not mean they will be good as a manager. After all, the most infamous but also beloved TV boss, Michal Scott, from “The Office” was an excellent salesman, but a questionable manager.

After all, there are only so many hours in the day, and people realize that a bit more money, at the cost of all of one’s mental energy, isn’t worth it. Similarly, while most people hate it when their companies talk about “being a family,” it’s still good to have friendly and positive relations with your coworkers. Being a manager, in the age of cuts and layoffs makes that nearly impossible.