Lenny RachitskyHost of Lenny's Podcast | Author of Lenny's Newsletter

The current state of the PM industry

22 Apr 2026 · 1 min

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Product management has shifted from shuffling information with little authority to building and testing directly with customers. The work feels more impactful now, but the industry is exhausted. Meanwhile, companies are laying off thousands while hiring new talent at much higher salaries.

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If you really talk to product leaders 3 years ago, they weren't very happy. Their day was largely a day of moving information from one to another. Generally, the function had become extremely focused on responsibility without authority. What's changed is people are having fun again, particularly product folks, because they're able to build. They don't have to rely on as many people to have impact. There's much more of a direct connection to their ideas and their ability to test and connect their product instincts to their customers. This is a complete renaissance for the product industry. So that's kind of the good. It comes with a lot of strings attached. It starts with just being exhausted. I've never seen an industry that's more tired than they are now. Nothing's constant. Everyone's in a state of alert. In addition, now you're hearing like tens of thousands of people are being shed by by larger employers that are also hiring and paying triple wages. That's like mind-boggling, but you know, depending on your perspective, you might be on one side or the other.