Millennials have officially overtaken Generation X as the largest cohort of managers in the American workforce in 2025. This generational handoff marks more than a demographic curiosity—it’s potentially a major shift in how organizations are led, as millennials have a different management style than their predecessors.
According to the semiannual Worklife Trends report by Glassdoor, millennials became the largest share of the managerial workforce in late June 2025, overtaking Gen Xers, who dominated leadership during the past two decades. At current aging trends, according to projections from Glassdoor lead economist Daniel Zhao, Gen Z will provide a greater share of managers than baby boomers in late 2025 or 2026. Already, Gen Z makes up one in 10 managers.
Millennials are officially the majority of managers.Glassdoor
Since becoming the most populous generation in the labor force in the mid-2010s, millennials have steadily risen through the ranks, propelled by demographic inevitability, retirements among baby boomers, and new attitudes toward organizational leadership. This ascent caps years of warnings and speculation about how millennial values would shape the workplace.
In an interview with Fortune, Zhao said millennials are inheriting a tough situation, but it could be worse. Workers by and large “don’t feel like they’re in a great situation” right now, but Zhao noted things have not deteriorated for workers since the last edition of the report in January 2025.
