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Seeking a flatter management structure is a leadership trend you could compare to fashions craze for skinny jeanstrendy yesterday, forgotten tomorrow, then back in fashion again before you know it. Recently, big tech firms like Meta, Microsoft, and Google made headlines for cutting management positions to lower costs and increase productivityturning some of their workloads over to AI tools. But a new survey from San Francisco-based workplace communications outfit Firstup shows that eliminating too many management jobs can have some unexpected effects on the way your teams work, sometimes damaging employee engagement, which undermines productivity. This is definitely something to bear in mind if youre considering restructuring your own companys management ranks. The surveys top results show that employees think middle management layers are crucial to the company success. More than half the people surveyed said their direct manager was their most trusted source for up-to-date workplace newscompared to just 10% who think that senior leadership is their best source for this information. Interestingly, the Firstup survey, which quizzed 1,000 U.S.-based, full-time non-managerial employees at companies that carried out layoffs in the last year, shows that junior staff think that their middle management layers are critical to their well-being at work. Fully 75% of respondents said they rely on managers for recognition and appreciation, 63% said they relied on them for helping tackle workplace challenges, while 50% said they seek coaching and development advice from managers. Meanwhile, 86% of people said they relied on managers to translate company updates into meaningful advice about what changes mean for individual workers. This paints a picture of junior staff relying on their layers of middle management as a trust and information barrier between themselves and senior leadershipperhaps hinting at an ivory tower syndrome surrounding senior management. Other survey details offer a deeper view of what happens when layoffs hit the management structure of a company. Fully 38% of survey respondents said that since their company experienced layoffs, their manager had become less accessible. This has had consequences: 30% of people said theyd felt less support when things were disrupted or changed, 34% expected theyll lose a sense of connection and 30% expected decreased or zero access for mentorship and career development options. Employees also dont trust senior leaders, with nearly 40% saying they cant get mentorship or guidance from upper management, 37% saying they feel unheard by the top leaders, and only 47% agreeing that their company leadership is somewhat transparent. This paints an interesting picture of how the average U.S. worker views their management, relying on their direct supervisors while apparently distrusting upper layers of company leadership. The report quotes Firstup CEO Bill Schuh, who explained that the data show workers see middle managers as critical for translating organizational priorities into action, clarity, and connection for their direct report. As companies shed middle managers, they risk losing this vital link, which can leave frontline workers feeling lost and unsupported. That discontent will likely diminish their engagement with their work, and could reduce their productivity. Meanwhile Schuh also noted that stripping managers out adds strain on their remaining colleagues. That means companies are asking fewer managers to do more, and that simply is not sustainable, he said. While AI is useful for handling some mundane managerial tasks, it wont replace the human connection and leadership that great managers provide. What does this mean for your company? In smaller organizations, there may be more of a direct line of communication between senior leaders and frontline workers: but these data are still important. If youre considering trimming your intermediate management structure, you should consider how this will impact employee trust and expectations for career advancement. Open and frank conversations may improve levels of trust among your employees and help support their engagement and productivity during times of upheaval. Kit Eaton This article originally appeared on Fast Companys sister publication, Inc. Inc. is the voice of the American entrepreneur. We inspire, inform, and document the most fascinating people in business: the risk-takers, the innovators, and the ultra-driven go-getters that represent the most dynamic force in the American economy.
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E-Commerce
After a record-setting rally over the past week, commodities traders went all in on a massive gold sell-off on Tuesday. The price of the precious metal fell down to $4,118 an ounce, after a high of $4,381.52 an ounce just one day before. Meanwhile, silver is trading at $48.76 an ounce in midday trading at the time of this writing, down from $54.35 last week. At the time of this writing, the live gold spot price for an ounce of gold in U.S. dollars (USD) is $4,133.13, a gram of gold is $132.88 and one kilogram of gold is $132,883.22, according to JM Bullion.(Gold spot price can fluctuate by the second.) For some context, that means gold prices have decreased the most they have in four years, and silver is seeing its biggest drop since early 2021, per Bloomberg. This is a stunning reversal from last week, which saw gold and silver prices spiking as investors sought out a “safe haven” from more volatility in the stock market due to overall economic uncertainty. The two main ways to invest in gold and silver are by buying the physical metals, or through futures contracts. What’s causing the abrupt change? Analysts say it’s not just one thing causing the slump. They point to the current economic and political climate, including a prolonged government shutdown; upcoming U.S. and China trade talks amid Trump’s escalating tariff wars with Beijing; and softer than expected numbers from the US Consumer Price Index (CPI), which are expected to be released by end of week. The shutdown is delaying some economic and jobs data from coming out as government workers are currently furloughed, while at the same time, there have been mass firings. Meanwhile, a standoff with Beijing over rare earth minerals resulted in President Donald Trump threatening a massive increase of tariffs on Chinese products,” seemingly triggering a market sell-off. However, a retreat from gold and silver could mean the market is feeling more secureand therefore, a good sign investors aren’t running for cover.
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E-Commerce
My friend turned to me the other day with a sly smirk and whispered, Are you also part of Group 7? I shook my head, unsure of what she meantfeeling left out of whatever secret club she was referring to. It didnt take long for the algorithm to catch up with me. Within a few hours, my For You Page on TikTok was flooded, and before I knew it, I, too, was officially part of the internets newest inside joke. “Group 7” began as a simple experiment by musician Sophia James, who wanted to promote her new song So Unfairand experiment with the quirky nature of TikToks algorithm. TikToks For You Page, or FYP, described by the Guardian as uncannily good at predicting what videos will catch your eye,” works differently than older recommendation systems. Rather than passively waiting for users to engage with a video, it actively evaluates its own predictions, presenting content it anticipates users will find appealing and gauging their responses. It pushes the boundaries of your interests and monitors how you engage with those new videos it seeds in your For You Page, Chris Stokel-Walker, author of TikTok Boom and frequent Fast Company contributor, told the Guardian in 2022. Every user has the potential for global fame. Even with zero followers, a video can eventually land on someones FYP. Positive engagement can quickly snowball into millions of views. TikToks short-form format accelerates this learning. Leveraging this insight, James posted seven nearly identical videos of her track, each labeled with a different group number. You are in group [number], the text read. “Group 7,” uploaded last, swiftly became the algorithms favoriteand TikToks latest obsession. Before long, everyone wanted in. Users jumped on the “exclusive” group trend, now the center of TikTok lore. Can you imagine not being in Group 7? one user commented. I hereby declare group 7 is the most elite group, another added. Group 7 is the hot girl groupI dont make the rules. Even brands and celebrities crowded into the group. Clorox dubbed Group 7 clean girl coded. HBO Max chimed in with judging groups 16, and Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran along with the actress Madelyn Cline also jumped on board. On music marketing and memes Its immaculate marketing, one TikTok user said in a viral post praising the stunt. And she wasnt wrong. James managed to get millions of people to stream, share, and memeify So Unfair without spending a cent on traditional promotion, now garnering over 2.5 million likes and 114,600 comments on her post. Fans soon began referring to the song as the Group 7 anthem. The track became ubiquitous, climbed the charts, and Sophia James emerged as the internets latest marketing sensation. According to the New York Times, she has gained more than 100,000 TikTok followers and seen a significant uptick in streams of her music. Taking her efforts beyond TikTok, James has launched an official “Group 7” section on her website, promoting a real-life meetup at the Bedford Pub in London on October 24. Are inside jokes the new marketing strategy? This is not the first instance of the internet transforming a half-joke into a cultural phenomenon. From the chair emoji saga to Crop and Story Time, TikTok users gravitate toward communities that feel exclusiveeven when built entirely on shared irony. Jamess experiment demonstrates a larger trend: In an era where authenticity is algorithmic, the best marketing doesnt feel like marketing at all.
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E-Commerce
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