TechnoBusiness Insights
68% of Indonesian Companies have Difficulty Filling Managerial Positions
Nearly seven in ten Indonesian Gen Z professionals hold a cautionary view of the role they are being asked to step into.
● New Robert Walters research finds Indonesian Gen Z professionals willing to lead but held back by misaligned compensation expectations.
● Only 27% describe their current middle managers as inspiring leaders they want to emulate.
Jakarta, TechnoBusiness Insights ID ● A new research by global talent solutions partner Robert Walters reveals that Indonesian Gen Z professionals are largely willing to take on middle management roles–75% see it as a necessary career step–but are holding back due to unmet compensation expectations and concerns about the demands the role currently places on those who hold it. Meanwhile, 68% of Indonesian employers report that filling these roles is already difficult or expected to become so within the next one to two years.
The findings add a local perspective to the global Conscious Unbossing conversation–the growing trend of younger professionals stepping back from management roles. In Indonesia, the data suggests the issue is less a matter of generational attitude and more a matter of unmet expectations around compensation, role design, and workplace conditions.
Perception of Current Middle Management
Indonesian Gen Z professionals’ hesitation is shaped in large part by what they observe in their own workplaces. Only 27% describe their current middle managers as inspiring leaders they want to emulate. A third (33%) say their managers appear permanently stressed or stretched too thin, while 27% describe them as carrying significant responsibility with limited authority to act on it.
In total, nearly seven in ten Indonesian Gen Z professionals hold a cautionary view of the role they are being asked to step into.
Eric Mary, Country Head at Robert Walters Indonesia, comments, “The traditional corporate carrot—the manager title—no longer carries the same weight for young Indonesian professionals. Gen Z professionals want to lead, but they are observing the pressures faced by current middle managers and are hesitant to step up unless the financial reward reflects the responsibility. Organisations cannot solve a monetary or workload anxiety problem with a training certificate alone.”
The Compensation Mismatch
The survey identifies a specific gap between what Gen Z professionals require to take on management responsibilities and what most Indonesian employers are currently prioritising.
Among Gen Z respondents with reservations about management, 64% cite higher compensation as the single most important factor that would make them more open to the role. Clearer decision-making authority ranked second at 38%, followed by better work-life balance at 24%.
In contrast, only 38% of Indonesian employers say they are reviewing salary and incentive packages. The majority are instead directing resources toward clearer promotion pathways (69%) and leadership development programmes (62%).
The survey also found that 46% of Gen Z professionals would only accept a management promotion if they could negotiate the terms first, and 54% are concerned that avoiding management could limit their long-term earning potential.
Michelle Tanjung, Associate Director at Robert Walters Indonesia, adds, “We have to look at the local reality. Many young professionals in Indonesia are managing intense family financial expectations alongside their careers.”
They are highly driven towards upward mobility, but they are also deeply pragmatic. When they see their current bosses acting as ‘corporate martyrs’—juggling senior executive demands while shielding junior teams without proper compensation—they naturally hold out for a better deal. To secure future leadership pipelines, businesses need to review their compensation structures and ensure mid-level roles are empowered with genuine autonomy.
The Threat to Succession Planning
The employer findings point to a longer-term concern beyond immediate hiring difficulties. When asked what they would gain most from a stronger middle management pipeline, 64% of employers cited better succession planning for senior roles as their top priority—ahead of improved business performance, team stability, and reduced pressure on senior leadership.
Despite this, 36% of Indonesian organisations say they are currently taking no action to address the middle management pipeline gap, even as the majority acknowledge the challenge is present or approaching.
The Path Forward
Robert Walters Indonesia identifies three areas where organisations can take immediate action. Compensation is the most direct lever. With 64% of hesitant Gen Z professionals saying better pay would change their decision, and fewer than four in ten employers currently adjusting remuneration packages, addressing this gap is the clearest starting point.
Role design also requires attention. Gen Z respondents identified poor work-life balance, limited decision-making authority, and the pressure of managing competing demands from senior leadership and junior staff as the most common concerns observed in current managers. These are structural issues that require structural responses.
Finally, organisations that invest in the visibility and recognition of their existing middle managers are also, indirectly, shaping how the next generation perceives the role. How current managers are seen to experience their work has a direct bearing on whether younger professionals will want to follow them.●
Text: TechnoBusiness Insights ID
Data: Robert Walters Indonesia, June 2026
Photo: Vinzent Weinbeer/Pixabay
