Brian Walch says Amazon cut 14,000 managers in 2025, a real headwind for management careers. But he argues the decision to pursue management should come down to personal drive, not market noise. Talented managers who work hard and lead with inspiration will find opportunities regardless.
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Should you pursue a career in management? You look at the news today and companies are drastically cutting middle management. For example, Amazon announced they're reducing their management ranks by 14,000 in 2025. It would seem that the tide is against a career in management. Layoffs, AI threatening to take away jobs, all threatening to make managers less relevant. So someone watching this video today is thinking, is a career in management worth it? And that's a good question. I went through the dot com bust in early 2000s and lots of people watched what was happening in the industry and decided not to go into computer science or software programming. So class sizes dropped, there were less graduates, and when our firm was trying to scale up, there weren't a lot of entry level candidates. Supply was low and demand was high. So that's one thing that's going to happen here. There are two sides of this equation. We're looking at the demand supply, but people are going to exit management and the supply will drop too. But there's a much more important thing. The question really isn't, should you pursue a career in management because of what's going on in the market? But the question should be, should you pursue a career in management because of an internal desire? See, I believe there's always going to be opportunities for people that are good at what they do and give it their full heart. If you want to be a manager, do it and be great at it. Give it your all. You will find opportunities. Now, it may look a little different than you expect. You're going to have to adjust and be responsive to the market. But if you work hard at it, you're going to be in control of your career path. So don't focus on what's happening in the market. Focus on what you want and what drives you. We need great managers. We need people who can inspire and empower themselves and others, who can lead their teams to accomplish more and who become the future leaders in the organization. If that feels like your calling, don't give up on it. Embrace the uncertainty, work hard and be great.
