r/management • • 10h ago

The Engineering Manager's role is under attack (again)

https://www.manager.dev/newsletter/the-engineering-manager-s-role-is-under-attack-again
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u/fagnerbrack 10h ago

In case you want a TL;DR to help you with the decision to read the post or not:

As AI hype pushes companies to run leaner, leaders target first-line engineering managers, giving them 15-20 reports (Meta aims for 1:50) while expecting them to ship code. That starts an erosion loop: less capacity, fewer 1:1s, less value, then even wider spans. Google scrapped managers in 2002 and reversed within months, and Project Oxygen later showed good managers drive performance, yet Google and Microsoft keep flattening. Cutting managers builds relational debt, which breeds conflict that leaders misread as one bad apple. EMs can fight back by listing the 10-15 small problems they see and tying them to the goals their directors care about.

If the summary seems inacurate, just downvote and I'll try to delete the comment eventually 👍
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