{
  "id": 245244,
  "title": "Leadership and AI: Can they coexist? Middle management is fighting for its future",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/07/fuhrung-und-ki-konnen-die-weg-das-mittlere-management-kampft-um-die",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-07T02:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/management/fuehrung-und-ki-koennen-die-weg-mittleres-management-kaempft-um-die-zukunft/100243656.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "In an increasingly streamlined corporate landscape, German firms Volkswagen, Deutsche Bahn, BMW, and Bayer are cutting thousands of management positions to streamline hierarchies and reduce costs. The restructuring began long before the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), but AI is now accelerating this development by increasing the pressure on executives. Executives will be vital in the future for managing and implementing AI in their organizations. The middle management could play a central role in helping executives cope with job loss and professional setbacks, as explained by psychologist Christine Altstötter-Gleich. On July 9th, Oliver Blume, CEO of Volkswagen, faced the supervisory board regarding the company's deep crisis and upcoming restructuring. Later, Blume met with 300 senior executives in Munich to discuss the company's situation and announced plans to eliminate more than 5000 management positions by the end of the decade. Currently, Volkswagen employs around 21,500 managers worldwide, meaning almost a quarter of all positions could disappear. For those who remain, the pressure to manage more with fewer managers will increase. The restructuring is not unique to Volkswagen; other German corporations are also heavily downsizing, particularly in the middle management. Deutsche Bahn plans to eliminate around 30% of its workforce, equivalent to over 1000 employees, including numerous management positions below the executive level. BMW will cut personnel in the indirect sector, primarily affecting employees who are not on the production line, such as those working in the company headquarters or research and innovation centers. Bayer has already completed its restructuring by eliminating 14,000 positions globally, reducing its workforce from 17,000 to around 5000 managers. The drastic changes in corporate structures and cost pressures are not the only reasons for eliminating entire hierarchical levels in German companies. The real threat to the middle management, which may not be fully understood yet, comes from a technological revolution brought by Artificial Intelligence. AI is transforming the business operating system, and by 2035, the question may not be whether AI supports leadership, but why humans ever thought they should make all leadership decisions themselves. According to Leadership Professor Fabiola Gerpott, the current changes are just the foreshocks of a significant earthquake when AI starts to take over leadership tasks entirely. The organizational structures of German companies are undergoing an unprecedented historical transformation.",
  "summary": "Economic crisis, structural change, AI - German companies are facing the biggest transformation in recent decades. Entire hierarchy levels are at risk. What type of managers are still needed.",
  "key_points": [
    "German firms Volkswagen, Deutsche Bahn, BMW, and Bayer are downsizing management positions.",
    "AI is accelerating restructuring by increasing pressure on executives.",
    "Middle management may help executives cope with job loss and professional setbacks."
  ],
  "editors_take": "The culling of middle management positions at major German firms like Volkswagen and Bayer reflects a seismic shift in corporate structures, where AI-driven efficiency and flatter hierarchies are rendering traditional leadership layers obsolete.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}