In 2022, 42% of professionals wanted to become a manager. Today, only 34%. In three years, nearly one in four changed their mind.
The @APEC 2026 study on managers reveals a striking paradox: the vast majority of employees value and respect their direct manager in France. Yet fewer and fewer professionals actually want to become one. France is not alone — but it may be where the structural causes run deepest.
Three reasons explain this retreat — and all three have implications well beyond HR.
💼 Managers are now expected to be personal coaches, well-being guardians, AI champions and performance drivers — simultaneously. According to @DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025, these missions impact the well-being of leaders : 71% of leaders report increased stress, and 40% are considering leaving their role altogether.
📊 The generational signal is impossible to miss. Among professionals under 35, the desire to become a manager has fallen by 16 points in three years — according to @APEC. This is not a passing trend. It reflects a fundamental shift in professional priorities — across Europe.
💡 France has the tools — but not the culture. A 2025 IGAS report comparing management practices across France, Germany, Sweden, Ireland and Italy reaches a striking conclusion: France has the most comprehensive legal framework for influencing management practices in Europe. Yet it systematically underuses its most powerful lever — social dialogue. In Germany and Sweden, employees co-define how work is organised. In Ireland, proximity between managers and their teams compensates for weaker formal structures.
We know managers are key to driving performance. But their role goes further — they are the first lever for talent retention and attraction, and the primary shapers of employer branding. In a fast-changing and competitive world, reputation is everything. Internal communications is no longer support — it is strategy.
📊 Sources: @APEC, Cadres et management 2026 · @DDI, Global Leadership Forecast 2025 · @IGAS, Pratiques managériales dans les entreprises 2025
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