Positive but under pressure: how managers really feel about their jobs

HR and payroll software provider Ciphr conducted a survey of 500 UK managers, with people management responsibilities, to find out how they feel about managing others, and what causes them the most challenges day to day.

On average, most (84%) managers said they like or love their jobs, and three-quarters of those surveyed find their work meaningful (74%), and fulfilling and engaging (72%) most or all of the time. 

Unfortunately, not all the findings are that positive. Two in five managers has worked through illness (40%), or while they were on annual leave (39%), in the last six months. Nearly one in three (31%) think their workload is unmanageable most or all of the time, and one in four (26%) feel stressed most or all of the time. 

Other insights from Ciphr's survey include:

Ciphr polled 500 UK workers with people management responsibilities (managers who don’t manage other people were screened out). The survey aimed to find out more about how managers feel about their jobs and the organisations they work for.

Most (84%) of the surveyed managers said they either love (32%) or like (52%) their current jobs. One in 11 (9%) managers have neutral feelings – selecting the ‘I neither like nor dislike my job’ option, and minority admitted to disliking (6%) or even hating (1%) their jobs.

When asked how they felt about being a people manager, the results were broadly similar. Nearly a third (31%) said they really like managing others, over half (54%) said they mostly like it, and 9% were neutral about it. The remaining 6% – which is not an insignificant figure when extrapolated across the UK workforce – dislike managing others.

Building relationships, supporting and developing their teams, higher pay and more autonomy are just some of the many reasons why managers like their jobs.

While there’s no such thing as a typical manager, there does tend to be a typical team size. Ciphr’s data shows that most junior managers lead teams of 2-9 people (36% of this group manage teams of 2-4, and 25% manage teams of 5-9), mid-level managers lead teams of 5-19 people (29% of this group manage teams of 5-9, and 28% manage teams of 10-19), and senior managers lead teams of 10 people or more, on average (51% of this group manage teams of 20+).

Perhaps unsurprising, manager confidence increases with age and level of responsibility. The more experienced the manager, the more confident they are in their capabilities to manage their teams. Senior managers, and those managing bigger teams, are the most confident. 88% of senior managers and 87% of managers with teams of 10 people or more feel confident in their management skills and abilities. This compares to 71% of junior managers and 73% of line managers with teams of nine people or less.

Ciphr’s research suggests that junior managers (including team supervisors and team leaders) may be more dissatisfied with their role and people management responsibilities than those with more senior roles.

A significant number of those in junior management positions, who typically lead smaller teams (61% of respondents in this cohort have teams of 2-9 people) feel a lack of recognition, and don’t feel listened to. This has wider implications for their organisation's engagement and retention efforts, as an unhappy manager will likely impact their team's morale and performance too.

• Only 39% of junior managers feel like they have good career progression opportunities most or all of the time (compared to 54% of middle managers and 84% of senior managers)

• 52% of junior managers feel valued and appreciated for their work most or all of the time (compared to 61% of middle managers and 89% of senior managers)

• 56% of junior managers feel that their views and opinions are listened to most or all of the time (compared to 66% of middle managers and 89% of senior managers)

• 57% of junior managers feel that they are included in or consulted on decisions that affect them and their team most or all of the time (compared to 70% of middle managers and 87% of senior managers)

• 26% of junior managers said they rarely or never feel satisfied with their pay (compared to 19% of middle managers and 5% of senior managers)
  
  

What doesn’t tend to vary too much by organisational role is opinions on whether their workload is manageable (it isn’t, generally) and how stressed they feel.

Worringly, one in four (26%) junior and middle managers, and a similar share (24%) of senior managers feel stressed or overwhelmed most or all of the time. And nearly one in three (31%) of all the managers surveyed said they feel overworked or ‘too busy’ most or all of the time.

Notably, female managers are significantly more likely to say they feel stressed all or most of the time (30% of surveyed women vs 23% of surveyed men).

Feeling valued and appreciated at work has a big influence on how individuals feel about their jobs and their teams. Managers who feel recognised for their contributions are more likely to be positive about their role managing others, and less likely to be planning to leave their job, than those who don’t feel valued.

Managers who feel valued and appreciated for their work most of the time are more likely to:

• Find their job fulfilling and engaging all or most of the time (88% of surveyed line managers agree)

• Feel that they have a high performing team all or most of the time (88%)

• Think that their skills and experience are being fully utilised all or most of the time (86%)

• Have all the tools and resources they need to manage their teams all or most of the time (83%)

• Are not planning to leave their jobs this year (60%)

• Like or love their jobs (94%)

On the flipside, for managers who rarely feel valued and appreciated for their work:

• Only 15% find their job fulfilling and engaging all or most of the time

• 27% feel that they have a high performing team all or most of the time

• 6% think that their skills and experience are being fully utilised all or most of the time

• 21% have all the tools and resources they need to manage their teams all or most of the time

• 38% are not planning to leave their job this year (44% intend to)

• 29% like or love their jobs (44% dislike or hate their jobs)

Building relationships with their teams is the top reason for why people like having management responsibilities, according to Ciphr's survey.

Half (50%) of the UK managers polled agreed that developing positive working relationships was a key reason why they enjoyed their jobs. Problem solving and engaging and motivating their teams were their next two favourite aspects (cited by 46% and 43% respectively). 

The top 10 aspects of people management that UK managers find most enjoyable: 

• Building relationships within their team: 50% of surveyed managers 
• Problem solving: 46%
• Motivating and engaging their team: 43%
• Sharing in team successes and having a sense of pride in seeing their team succeed: 42%
• Supporting others / supporting their team’s wellbeing: 42%
• Mentoring and coaching: developing people (helping others produce good results / achieve goals) : 41%
• Leading by example / being a role model: 39%
• Higher pay: 39%
• Helping to shape workplace culture and support employee experience: 39%
• Offering honest, constructive feedback that helps people to grow: 34%
• Increased decision making: 34%

Interestingly, when asked to share which aspects, if any, they liked most about being a people manager, less than 1% (just four people) opted for ‘none’. 

See the full list of what people like most about being a manager in the chart below. 

Keep scrolling to discover the most disliked aspects of being a people manager.

People management can be challenging at times. While most (85%) managers like managing a team, they don’t necessarily enjoy every part of what the role entails. 

Ciphr's survey quizzed managers about which factors, if any, they find most challenging or least enjoy. 95% of them reported at least one aspect of their people management responsibilities as being challenging.

For around a third, having ‘difficult’ conversations (32%), and the increased stress (30%) of being a manager, are what they like least of all. While a quarter (25%) find managing disciplinaries and handling grievances, dismissals and redundancies challenging. A similar number (24%) also struggle with managing challenging or problematic behaviour within their teams.

The pressure of having to attend more meetings appears to affect more male managers than female managers (24% of surveyed men, compared to 19% of surveyed women find this challenging). Male managers are more likely to say that they don’t like being a mediator and dealing with interpersonal friction or conflict (20% vs 16%). They are also twice as likely as female managers to admit that they find supporting their team’s wellbeing challenging (12% vs 6%).

In comparison, a greater share of female managers find absence management more challenging than their male counterparts (22% of surveyed women vs 16% of surveyed men). Female managers are also more likely to say that they dislike having responsibility for others' performance, behaviour and actions (18% vs 12%).

Check out the full list of the most common managerial challenges (by age, sex and job role) in the chart below.

Enjoying your job doesn’t necessarily make it any less stressful or challenging. While managers enjoy the relational and collaborative aspects of their people management roles, the extra administrative burdens, increased workload, conflict management and bureaucracy they have to navigate can take a personal toll. 

Nearly one in three (31%) UK managers feel overworked or ‘too busy’ most or all of the time, and one in four (26%) feel stressed or overwhelmed most or all of the time. 

The mental health and wellbeing repercussions of frequent and excessive overworking – whether that’s working through lunch breaks, while on holiday or through illness – cannot be overstated. But Ciphr’s findings show that’s what thousands of UK managers do:

In just the past six months:

• Two-thirds (66%) of senior managers with people management responsibilities have worked out of hours in the evening or at the weekend (the average for all managers is 60%)

• 44% of middle managers have worked when they really should have been off sick (the average for all managers is 40%)

• 44% of female managers have worked while on annual leave (compared to 33% of male managers)

• 43% of middle managers have lost sleep worrying about work (the average for all managers is 37%)

• 41% of junior managers have felt work has negatively affected their health or wellbeing (the average for all managers is 33%)

Other signs of overworking include regularly working more than your contracted hours (65% of managers have worked unpaid overtime in the past year) and cancelling or delaying taking leave due to work pressures (45% have done this in the last year). 

Based on Ciphr's data, thousands of managers report feeling burnt out or in need of a complete break from work. Three-quarters (74%) of managers aged 25-34 have felt this way in the last year. A staggering figure. This compares to 64% of those aged 35-44, 57% of those aged 45-54, and 45% of those over 55.

Some managers have already taken steps to alleviate this work pressure by speaking to their boss about their workloads, and stress levels and wellbeing (42% and 35% respectively have done this within the past six months). Others, meanwhile, have started to look elsewhere, with one in five (19%) managers having applied for a job or attended an interview within the past six months.

Ciphr’s research also reveals the type of support and practical improvements that UK bosses should be prioritising for their people managers. Because while most managers do enjoy their jobs, many aren’t opposed to changing employers for a less pressured position.

Of the 500 managers polled, nearly a quarter (24%) wanted to see a reduction in unnecessary bureaucracy – known to hamper productivity, slow decision making and fill time with low-value busy work.

Around one in five also think that higher wages (22%), management and leadership training (20%), and more effective support from leadership (20%), could help them enjoy being a manager more.

Blockers they’d like to see less of include meetings (19%), unrealistic targets (19%), and admin (18%).

One in six would like to receive more health and wellbeing support tailored for managers (17%). The same number (17%) want to reduce the 'ASAP culture' that muddles priorities and promotes overworking (17%). 

Notably, managers would rather have their own workload reduced, so they can spend more time managing their team, than see their team size reduced, so they have less people to manage (14% vs 5%).

There are some differences in priorities between the job roles. For example: 

• One in four (24%) senior managers with people management responsibilities would like more management or leadership training (compared to 19% of middle managers and 18% of junior managers)

• One in five (21%) senior managers would like to see more knowledge sharing between managers at their organisation (compared to 15% of middle managers and 11% of junior managers)

• One in five (22%) middle managers with people management responsibilities would like to deal with less admin and low-value busywork (compared to 13% of senior managers and 14% of junior managers)

• One in six (17%) middle managers would like to receive more recognition of the people management side of their job (compared to 12% of senior managers and 10% of junior managers)

• Nearly one in three (31%) junior managers with people management responsibilities would like to be paid more money for what they do (compared to 22% of middle managers and 20% of senior managers)

• One in six (17%) junior managers would like their organisation to employ more staff to distribute workload (compared to 13% of middle managers and 11% of senior managers)

Using feedback like this from existing managers, and recent leavers, can help employers understand what their organisation is doing right and what support may need to improve.

Ciphr conducted a survey of 500 UK-based managers, who have people management responsibilities. The survey ran (via Pollfish) between 26 August and 8 September 2026.  

Half of the 500 respondents are female, half are male. 23% of respondents are aged 25-34 years old, 28% are 35-44 years old, 27% are 45-54 years old, 18% are 55-64 years old, and 5% are over 65 years old. The survey is unweighted, and as such is only a snapshot of the working-age population.

23% of 412 survey respondents work in senior management roles at their organisations, 52% work in middle management or mid-level positions, and 23% work in junior management or in team supervisor/team leader positions. Job roles are unavailable for 88 respondents. 

All figures have been rounded to the nearest integer or one decimal place. Totals may not sum due to rounding.


Fair use statement: If you are interested in sharing these statistics, or quoting this study in an article, please include a link to this infographic page and credit 'HR software provider Ciphr'. Thanks.

Author: Emma-Louise Jones
(The charts on this page were generated using AI)