Research highlights management burnout and AI-driven disempowerment

New research indicates a growing disconnect in management roles, where high job satisfaction coexists with intense professional pressure. A survey of 500 UK managers by Ciphr found that while 85 percent enjoy being people managers, 25 percent consider leaving their positions due to the stress of supervising others. Workload issues and burnout are prevalent, particularly among younger staff; 74 percent of managers aged 25 to 34 reported feeling burnt out in the past year.

Separately, researchers are warning of a phenomenon termed ‘gradual disempowerment’ resulting from the expansion of artificial intelligence. A paper by Jan Kulveit and colleagues suggests that as companies and governments delegate more decision-making to machines, human influence may erode. This shift could weaken workers’ bargaining power and reduce the responsiveness of governments to their citizens, as institutions become less dependent on human labor and participation.