Missing Managers

Think losing the middle layer saves money? Think again.

When companies need to cut labor costs, middle managers are often the first in line for layoffs—and this seems especially true this year. In our 2025 Korn Ferry Workforce survey, 41% of employees told us that their organization has slashed management layers.

This managerial vacuum creates real and immediate problems. Teams are feeling lost without direction. Executives are stretched thin. And the organizational glue that holds companies together is dissolving.

When managers leave, their work doesn't just disappear. Instead, senior executives inherit a mountain of day-to-day responsibilities on top of their strategic workload. No wonder 47% of these leaders question whether they can handle it all. 

Without these vital middle layers, companies are discovering that flatter isn't always better—especially when nobody's left to translate strategy into action.

The Salary Squeeze

The paycheck to cost-of-living equation isn't adding up.

Money talks loudest when talent is considering new opportunities. But in 2025, the gap between what people earn and what they need has widened dramatically.

Our survey shows that 70% of workers are worried about the cost of living, while 35% feel they're paid below the value of their skills. For companies, this creates a serious retention challenge as employees increasingly feel financial pressure.

The reality, however, is more nuanced. While pay tops the priority list for whether someone chooses to stay, leave, or accept a new job, our data shows other factors are nearly as crucial. 

Job security, meaningful work, benefits, flexibility, and having a manager they trust all heavily influence whether employees stay or leave. 

Companies that can't compete on salary aren't out of the game. If they can deliver on these other priorities, they still have powerful cards to play in attracting and keeping talent in an economy that’s squeezing everyone.

A New AI World Order

Emerging markets are winning the AI race.

The workforce most ready for AI isn't where you might expect. 

While the US, Europe, and Japan have historically driven digital innovation, it's now India, Brazil, and the Middle East emerging as the most AI-ready workforces. Compare that to USA, Europe, and Japan, where far fewer people feel the same enthusiasm for this brave new AI world. 

What's driving this shift? Training makes all the difference. 

The regions most excited about AI are precisely those investing heavily in preparing their people. 

More than 75% of workers in India and Brazil are getting solid AI training, while employees in traditional tech powerhouses feel left behind without the skills they need.

The real AI challenge isn't just implementing technology but ensuring everyone—from leadership to frontline workers—develops the skills to use it effectively.

The Hybrid Headache

Most want part- or full-time remote, but few get the option.

Full-time office work has become the workplace's most unwanted arrangement.

Of the 59% of employees currently working full-time in the office, only 19% actually want to be there. The rest are showing up because they have to, not because they want to. 

What do employees want instead? Half want hybrid and a quarter prefer fully remote. But the vast majority aren’t given the choice.

This disconnect looks very different depending on where you are. Brazilian workers overwhelmingly favor flexibility, with very little appetite for full-time office work. 

By contrast, Japanese employees are nearly twice as likely to prefer traditional in-person arrangements compared to the global average.

With flexibility ranking among the top priorities for talent, ignoring these preferences risks losing valuable people to competitors willing to offer the choice.

Generational Gaslighting?

When one generation's "great" is another's disgruntled reality.

With more people working well into their 70s, the workforce is becoming increasingly multigenerational. Five generations are currently working together in many organizations.

Does this create workplace friction? It depends who you ask. 

In our Korn Ferry Workforce 2025 results, 46% of baby boomers told us they see no challenges working with different generations, but only 17% of Gen Z feels the same way.

So what are younger workers seeing that their older colleagues aren't? 

Communication tops the list of concerns. Gen Z employees are calling for better communication and teamwork training, while only a fraction of baby boomers recognize the same need. Technology skills show a similar pattern. Younger workers identify significant digital gaps that most boomers simply don't see.

Even basic workplace values seem to be in conflict. Millennials report fundamental clashes in generational values at nearly twice the rate of baby boomers.

The gap widens further with unequal training access. Nearly half of baby boomers feel excluded from upskilling opportunities, threatening the knowledge exchange that makes a multigenerational workforce so valuable.