We invest millions in finding top talent — then leave our youngest and most diverse leaders to sink or swim.

Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 report displays this gap in black and white. The research highlighted a worrying trend: engagement among managers under 35 has dropped by 5%, and among female managers, it’s down by 7%. For a group so critical to business success, this dip should set off alarm bells in every HR and L&D department.

So, what exactly is behind this decline – and more importantly, what can L&D do to turn it around?

Let’s unpack the challenges and explore how your learning strategies can be the liferaft that keeps your future leaders afloat. 

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Why is workplace engagement declining among young and female managers?

Setting the “manager” and “workplace” aspects of this aside for a moment, it’s no secret that women and young people face a unique set of challenges – some of which overlap. They each carry invisible burdens while wrestling with what it’s like to grow up in an increasingly visible and online world.

Add workplace pressures, the responsibility of managing a team, and a lack of support, and you start to see why they’re disengaging.

Let’s dig a bit deeper. We’ve identified three main reasons why this decline in engagement might be happening:

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1. The promotion paradox. You may be a high performer in your role, but that doesn’t mean that you can seamlessly transition into a management position without any formal training. To be clear, this isn’t a slight on the managers themselves – rather the system that sees fit to throw them in at the deep-end without a life jacket. (We’re really sticking to the water analogy here.) In fact, it was recently found that a staggering 82% of workers in management positions have not received adequate training for those positions. Something needs to change.
   
   
2. Expectations of emotional labour. Research shows that the female manager in particular is expected to shoulder emotional labour and take on people-related tasks, like emotional support or scheduling duties… all with a smile on her face. Never mind that it’s not her job, or that she already has a huge To-Do list of actual responsibilities. If you’re a woman who has worked in an office – manager or not – you’ll probably have been asked to organise a birthday party, take notes at a meeting, or manage a workplace conflict… even if you decidedly have far more important things to do.
   
   
3. Lack of peer community. First-time managers, especially those from underrepresented groups, may not have peers who understand what they’re going through. That lack of support can lead to isolation, which metastasises into self-doubt. Research from the Center for Creative Leadership shows that nearly 60% of first-time managers feel isolated in their role, and that isolation is a significant predictor of burnout and turnover.
   
   
   

The role of L&D in re-engaging these groups

L&D has a huge opportunity here – not just to address the disengagement, but to reframe what effective management looks like and build future-ready leaders.

Here’s how.

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1. Start with first-time manager programmes

A structured, just-in-time learning journey for new managers can build confidence and competence early. That means going beyond basic compliance training to include:

• Practical leadership skills (feedback, delegation, conflict management)
• Human-centric leadership principles (empathy, inclusion, wellbeing)
• Coaching and reflection tools for self-awareness

But most importantly, it needs to be tailored. Young and female managers need to see themselves in the content and feel it’s built for them, not retrofitted from outdated leadership models.

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2. Champion psychological safety and inclusion

L&D should create spaces where it’s okay to not know the answer. Peer-led learning cohorts, mentoring circles, and safe feedback environments help younger and female managers share experiences and learn from each other.

This goes beyond simply developing skills. It’s about creating real belonging. When people feel seen and supported, engagement inevitably follows. 

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3. Make learning flexible and on demand

One-size-fits-all programmes won’t cut it in this instance. Today’s managers need access to relevant, role-based content they can dip into exactly when they need it — whether they’re handling a difficult conversation or managing remote teams.

Auto curation, personalised learning pathways, and advanced learning platforms that recommend learning based on actual needs can make development feel more like support and less like a tick-box exercise.

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4. Develop line managers as coaches

Senior leaders and experienced line managers play a key role in engagement. Equip them with the tools to coach their teams (not just manage them.) That includes:

• Building trust with their direct reports
• Spotting the signs of burnout early, and preventing it from going further
• Having development-focused conversations with their teams
• Advocating for diverse talent

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Rewriting the narrative of management

Engagement isn’t about perks or ping pong tables… although it's certainly nice getting your dentist appointments paid for. 

Real engagement is about feeling empowered and valued in your role. For young and female managers, that means recognising their unique challenges and designing learning that supports their whole journey, not just their job title.

L&D teams have the chance to rewrite the narrative of what management looks like. By building learning experiences that fit around them and not the other way around, we can help today’s emerging leaders thrive.

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Backing the next generation of managers

The 5% and 7% drops in engagement are serious signals, pointing us to issues that need addressing now. And if we’re serious about building better workplaces, we need to listen. 

Interested in workplace learning that equips future leaders with exactly what they need, from day one? Let’s have a conversation. 

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