The Last Days of the Managerial Class
19 hours ago
- #professional-managerial class
- #career transformation
- #AI disruption
- The traditional path to success in America, involving elite education and corporate management roles, is being disrupted.
- AI is replacing many tasks traditionally performed by the professional-managerial class, such as research, analysis, and communication.
- Management roles are losing value as AI rewards specificity, domain expertise, and measurable results over generalist skills.
- There is a growing identity crisis among professionals who built their careers on leadership and strategic thinking rather than technical skills.
- Research shows organizations perform better when led by individuals with deep technical expertise rather than general management skills.
- The professional-managerial system persisted due to its ability to allocate status and opportunity through institutional prestige rather than actual expertise.
- A new elite class is emerging, defined by technical competence and measurable output, while the traditional managerial class becomes marginalized.
- Young professionals must adapt by acquiring technical skills (e.g., data science, product building) rather than pursuing traditional management roles.
- The transition may take decades, with old and new elites coexisting uneasily before new status hierarchies stabilize.
- This shift raises questions about whether the new system will be more meritocratic or create new forms of exclusion.