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Meta just told some of its former managers to become managers again

Meta may have been a bit too enthusiastic in its highly publicized campaign to reduce middle management . The social media giant has reportedly been asking some individual contributors in its Applied AI (AAI) division if they would like to return to managerial roles, according to Business Insider , citing four people with “knowledge of the matter.” Meta declined a request for comment. Meta formed…

Meta just told some of its former managers to become managers again

Meta, the social media giant, has reportedly approached some of its former managers within the Applied AI (AAI) division to rejoin managerial roles, according to Business Insider. The company, which formed AAI in March to support its superintelligence efforts, had initially designed the division to operate with a "flat" structure, aiming to have up to 50 individual contributors for each manager.

However, some of these individual contributors, who had previously held managerial positions, have been offered the chance to return to supervisory roles. This move is particularly notable as Meta is known for its trend toward reducing bureaucracy, colloquially referred to as the "Great Flattening." Meta aggressively trimmed management layers during its Year of Efficiency in 2023 and targeted managers in its 10% workforce cuts earlier this year.

In contrast, across the economy, companies have been increasing the average number of people reporting to managers, with the figure rising from 10.9 in 2024 to 12.1 in 2025, a nearly 50% increase since 2013.

Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.

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