Nearly half of professionals at major technology companies have witnessed management layers shrinking over the past year. But according to new survey data, the way companies remove managers may determine whether teams become faster or more fragmented.
A survey conducted by professional community platform Blind among 1,603 India-based professionals found that 49% of respondents have experienced some form of organisational flattening, whether through manager layoffs, manager-to-individual contributor transitions, or the decision not to refill vacant management positions.
The findings suggest that while many organisations are pursuing leaner structures, the impact on teams varies significantly depending on the approach.
A growing push to remove management layers
The survey found that companies are increasingly reducing management layers in pursuit of speed, efficiency and simpler organisational structures.
Among respondents:
- 19% said managers were being laid off directly
- 19% said managers were being moved into individual contributor (IC) roles
- 11% said management vacancies were not being refilled
- 42% reported no change
- 9% said their organisations were adding managers
The trend reflects a broader shift underway across the technology sector, where executives are questioning the need for multiple layers of management as artificial intelligence takes over more coordination and administrative work.
Several technology leaders have publicly endorsed flatter organisational structures.
According to Blind's analysis, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently cited the "coordination tax" created by excess management layers when announcing workforce reductions and committed to limiting organisational hierarchy. Similarly, TCS, India's largest IT services employer, has targeted middle and senior management as part of a workforce restructuring that affected more than 23,000 roles during FY26.
Layoffs appear to create greater disruption
The survey's most notable finding is the difference in outcomes between companies that eliminate managers and those that redeploy them.
According to the data:
- 49% of employees at companies conducting direct manager layoffs reported negative impacts
- Only 21% reported negative impacts where managers were moved into IC roles
Negative impacts included productivity loss, communication breakdowns and reduced mentorship opportunities.
Overall team-level impacts reported by respondents included:
- 19% reported communication breakdown across teams
- 17% reported productivity declines
- 11% said junior employees lost mentorship opportunities
- 14% reported faster decisions and fewer bottlenecks
- 39% noticed no significant change
The findings indicate that while flatter organisations can improve decision-making speed, direct management cuts may also create operational challenges.
Oracle, Freshworks and PayPal employees report higher fallout
Among companies identified in the survey, organisations pursuing direct manager reductions reported the highest levels of disruption.
Freshworks recorded the highest employee-reported negative impact. Key findings included:
- 77% of respondents from Freshworks reported negative effects
- 46% reported productivity loss
- 32% reported communication breakdowns
Other companies reporting significant fallout included:
- PayPal: 61% negative impact
- Oracle: 50% negative impact
At Intuit, identified as the most aggressive management reducer in the survey, 69% of managers were reported to be affected by cuts. Nearly half of respondents from the company reported productivity and communication challenges following the changes.
The findings come after Intuit announced a global workforce reduction affecting more than 3,000 employees, with leadership stating the objective was to simplify organisational structures and support AI-driven product development.
Some companies are seeing speed gains instead
Not every company reported negative outcomes.
The survey found that organisations redeploying managers into contributor roles rather than removing them altogether appeared to experience fewer disruptions and, in some cases, faster decision-making.
Among the strongest performers:
- Adobe reported 48% faster decision-making and only 15% negative impact
- Goldman Sachs reported zero productivity decline and only 8% negative impact
- Meta reported 25% faster decision-making
The survey also found that Meta had the highest reported manager-to-IC conversion rate at 43%.
Other companies cited as pursuing manager redeployment strategies included Microsoft and Google.
The results suggest that organisations may be able to reduce hierarchy without creating significant disruption if experienced managers remain within teams in operational roles.
A workforce debate that is only beginning
The survey highlights a growing question facing employers as AI reshapes workplace structures: how much management is actually necessary?
While executives increasingly push for leaner organisations, the findings indicate that removing management layers carries trade-offs.
Companies pursuing direct layoffs appear more likely to experience communication gaps, productivity challenges and reduced mentorship. By contrast, organisations that retain managerial expertise through redeployment strategies are reporting fewer negative consequences and, in some cases, improved decision-making speed.
As technology firms continue to restructure around AI and efficiency goals, the evidence suggests that the success of organisational flattening may depend less on whether managers are removed and more on how those changes are executed.