Middle management is becoming an endangered species. But how will the changes affect employer brand and talent acquisition? Here’s what will be different and what to do about it.
What is “The Great Flattening”?
Ah, The Great Flattening – no, not that time your dad sat on the family hamster – it’s the latest neologism for how organisations are cutting middle management roles, redistributing power to the rank and file.
Why? Because AI developments. Because balance-loving Gen Zers aren’t fussed for becoming managers. And crucially, because fewer managers mean fewer salaries, fewer bottlenecks and faster work. Or so goes the theory.
Naturally the movement has been met with some scepticism. In a recent interview with Forbes, Jamie Aitken, vice president of HR transformation at Betterworks said that without managers “employees will lack clarity, direction and a path for professional growth—ultimately impacting productivity and business output.”
But whatever your stance on TGF, it’s happening now and it’s happening quickly.
Real world examples of flattening
- Atlassian launched Team Anywhere, cutting reliance on office culture and investing in rituals that support trust and team autonomy.
- Shopify axed 10,000 recurring meetings, automated functions and pushed decisions to frontline employees.
- GitLab built an open-source handbook so distributed teams could align without hierarchy.
- Zappos tried holacracy, letting employees organise their work without formal managers.
But what does this mean for employer branding? And how should you adapt for the new, pancakey world of work?
How this affects employer branding
Here’s the gist.
Employer Brand
Before flattening: Employer branding relied on top-down control.
After flattening: Every employee is both a creator and a critic. Reputation is co-authored across Glassdoor, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Slack. Successful brands aren’t built in boardrooms anymore. It’s the everyday moments and shared stories that shape them.
Employee Experience
Before flattening: Clear lines of authority and in-person connection made recognition easier.
After flattening: Without clear layers of authority, employees struggle to feel seen and guided. Experience becomes fragmented. They ask themselves: Am I growing? Do I belong here? Who sees my effort? In this environment, emotional design matters more.
Recruitment Marketing
Before flattening: Candidates judged your company by your careers site.
After flattening: Now, they’re piecing together impressions from employee content, social posts, hiring manager interactions and interview tone. One message does not fit all. Nurses in Atlanta, engineers in Berlin, and sales reps in Manila need different proof points. In flatter structures, you earn trust through context and authenticity.
Practical steps to consider this week
1. Build an EVP that lives in moments, not just mission statements
Move from a monolithic EVP to a flexible, people-powered framework. One that’s co-created with employees and adaptable across markets and roles. Think less poster on a wall, more playlist you can remix.
2. Design emotional moments in a structureless world
Identify the real inflection points in the employee journey. Then design moments that make people feel something. Like a day-one welcome ritual that has them gushing to a friend on the car ride home. Or a storytelling platform which recognises work that normally slips under the radar.
When hierarchy fades, emotion is everything.
3. Unleash story from the bottom-up
Find the stories that matter then get them out there. The frontline innovation. The quiet leadership. The unsung resilience.
Turn employee creators into culture reps. Show up with honesty, warmth and bite.
4. Create campaigns that don’t sound like campaigns
Build content that feels like conversation, not corporate blancmange. Think: TikTok confessionals, LinkedIn essays and Slack-powered recognition loops.
Last thought
In a flattened workforce, humans still need something to rise toward. Without layers, what holds them up is meaning. Without structure, what guides them is emotion.
Need help with your employer brand strategy or employee engagement through The Great Flattening? We help brands create the magic moments that make people care again.
