Fewer than 30% of non-managers are interested in transitioning into leadership roles in the next few years, according to an Aug. 7 LinkedIn News post.
Across all cohorts, 28% of U.S. employees expressed interest, based on LinkedIn surveys of 5,815 U.S. professionals conducted between June 14 and July 25.
Interest declined with age: 38% of Generation Z, 36% of millennials, 29% of Generation X, and 14% of baby boomers said they are interested in becoming managers.
One possible explanation is that many employees with longer careers have already found fulfillment and growth outside of traditional management, LinkedIn News wrote.
Managers also led the global decline in employee engagement — dropping from 30% in 2023 to 27% in 2024 — while engagement among individual contributors remained flat at 18%, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report.
