Tech industry managers are increasingly prioritizing tactical work over employee career development as AI-driven productivity demands and organizational flattening lead to larger team sizes and heavier workloads.

Key Points

• Tech companies are shifting toward a "Great Flattening," where managers oversee larger teams and spend more time on individual coding tasks.
• Dex CEO Paddy Lambros notes that management has become more transactional, focusing on immediate output rather than long-term pastoral coaching.
• Deel has increased its target ratio to 12–15 employees per manager, leveraging AI to automate administrative tasks previously handled by human leaders.
• Spellbook CEO Scott Stevenson reports that formal one-on-one meetings are frequently sacrificed to keep pace with rapid product development cycles.
• Industry leaders suggest that career growth discussions are moving toward "in-the-trenches" feedback or structured annual reviews to compensate for lost time.

Why it Matters

The shift toward transactional management risks leaving employees feeling disoriented regarding their professional growth and long-term career trajectories. As companies prioritize immediate output, they may struggle to cultivate the next generation of leadership, potentially impacting long-term talent retention and organizational stability.