Industries with the fewest people-management roles
Key facts
- #1 Aerospace & Defense, Industry: 19%
- #2 Technology & Software, Industry: 26%
- #3 Manufacturing & Industrial, Industry: 27%
- 16 industries ranked across all industries
- Data as of November 2026
For comparison: 35% across all industries.
- 1Aerospace & Defense Industry19%
- 2Technology & Software Industry26%
- 3Manufacturing & Industrial Industry27%
- 4Energy & Utilities Industry29%
- 5Financial Services & Banking Industry33%
- 6Government & Public Sector Industry33%
- 7Professional Services & Consulting Industry33%
- 8Media & Entertainment Industry37%
- 9Transportation & Logistics Industry38%
- 10Agriculture & Food Production Industry44%
What stands out
- The top ten is tightly packed: Aerospace & Defense leads on 19%, and #10 Agriculture & Food Production is at 44%.
- Agriculture & Food Production reaches #10 on a sample of 2,173 all openings, a smaller market than most of the top ten, so its rank can move more from month to month.
- Technology & Software is the largest market in the top ten, with 74,197 all openings behind its figure.
- Industries with fewer than 1,000 all openings are not ranked, and small differences between neighbouring ranks are not meaningful.
Why this ranking matters
What it shows
Not everyone wants to manage people. Where few openings are management roles, most of the work and the career ladder stay on the individual-contributor side.
How to use it
If you want to grow without managing people, look at the families and industries with the lowest management share, and ask employers about a senior individual-contributor track.
The top 25
- 1
Aerospace & Defense Industry
19%
- Management openings
- 3,712
- All openings
- 19,939
- Median posted pay
- $148k
Based on 19,939 openings.
- 2
Technology & Software Industry
26%
- Management openings
- 19,268
- All openings
- 74,197
- Median posted pay
- $185k
Based on 74,197 openings.
- 3
Manufacturing & Industrial Industry
27%
- Management openings
- 11,428
- All openings
- 42,377
- Median posted pay
- $130k
Based on 42,377 openings.
- 4
Energy & Utilities Industry
29%
- Management openings
- 2,857
- All openings
- 9,827
- Median posted pay
- $140k
Based on 9,827 openings.
- 5
Financial Services & Banking Industry
33%
- Management openings
- 10,600
- All openings
- 32,324
- Median posted pay
- $157k
Based on 32,324 openings.
- 6
Government & Public Sector Industry
33%
- Management openings
- 3,261
- All openings
- 9,902
- Median posted pay
- $113k
Based on 9,902 openings.
- 7
Professional Services & Consulting Industry
33%
- Management openings
- 6,258
- All openings
- 18,811
- Median posted pay
- $135k
Based on 18,811 openings.
Professional Services & Consulting jobs, employers and outlook
- 8
Media & Entertainment Industry
37%
- Management openings
- 2,653
- All openings
- 7,109
- Median posted pay
- $138k
Based on 7,109 openings.
- 9
Transportation & Logistics Industry
38%
- Management openings
- 2,339
- All openings
- 6,228
- Median posted pay
- $118k
Based on 6,228 openings.
- 10
Agriculture & Food Production Industry
44%
- Management openings
- 960
- All openings
- 2,173
- Median posted pay
- $119k
Based on 2,173 openings.
- 11
Construction & Real Estate Industry
44%
- Management openings
- 2,093
- All openings
- 4,721
- Median posted pay
- $115k
Based on 4,721 openings.
- 12
Healthcare & Hospital Systems Industry
49%
- Management openings
- 15,517
- All openings
- 31,523
- Median posted pay
- $140k
Based on 31,523 openings.
- 13
Retail & E-commerce Industry
50%
- Management openings
- 10,574
- All openings
- 21,108
- Median posted pay
- $128k
Based on 21,108 openings.
- 14
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech Industry
50%
- Management openings
- 6,860
- All openings
- 13,681
- Median posted pay
- $183k
Based on 13,681 openings.
- 15
Education & EdTech Industry
51%
- Management openings
- 7,400
- All openings
- 14,629
- Median posted pay
- $98k
Based on 14,629 openings.
- 16
Nonprofit & Social Impact Industry
51%
- Management openings
- 3,652
- All openings
- 7,171
- Median posted pay
- $113k
Based on 7,171 openings.
Full ranking
All 16 industries that qualified, with the figure each is ranked on.
| Rank | Industry | Score | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aerospace & Defense Industry | 19% | 19,939 |
| 2 | Technology & Software Industry | 26% | 74,197 |
| 3 | Manufacturing & Industrial Industry | 27% | 42,377 |
| 4 | Energy & Utilities Industry | 29% | 9,827 |
| 5 | Financial Services & Banking Industry | 33% | 32,324 |
| 6 | Government & Public Sector Industry | 33% | 9,902 |
| 7 | Professional Services & Consulting Industry | 33% | 18,811 |
| 8 | Media & Entertainment Industry | 37% | 7,109 |
| 9 | Transportation & Logistics Industry | 38% | 6,228 |
| 10 | Agriculture & Food Production Industry | 44% | 2,173 |
| 11 | Construction & Real Estate Industry | 44% | 4,721 |
| 12 | Healthcare & Hospital Systems Industry | 49% | 31,523 |
| 13 | Retail & E-commerce Industry | 50% | 21,108 |
| 14 | Pharmaceuticals & Biotech Industry | 50% | 13,681 |
| 15 | Education & EdTech Industry | 51% | 14,629 |
| 16 | Nonprofit & Social Impact Industry | 51% | 7,171 |
How this ranking works
A industry's score is the share of its open professional roles at manager level or above (manager, senior manager, director, vice president, head-of or C-suite), read from the full posting text.
The industry is the one our crawler assigns to the employer. Only industries with at least 1,000 all openings are ranked, and only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted.
Sample bar: industries with fewer than 1,000 openings are not ranked.
Sources: NextChapter job data: open professional roles on employer career sites, verified in the last week. Data as of November 2026.
Our job data covers professional roles on the career sites of employers we track, so figures describe that market, not every job. Spot an error? Tell us.
Questions
- Which industry ranks first: industries with the fewest people-management roles?
- Aerospace & Defense has the lowest share: 19% of its professional openings are manager, director or executive roles, against 35% across all industries.
- How many industries are ranked?
- 16 industries have at least 1,000 all openings, so the list has 16 entries.
- How is the ranking calculated?
- A industry's score is the share of its open professional roles at manager level or above (manager, senior manager, director, vice president, head-of or C-suite), read from the full posting text. The industry is the one our crawler assigns to the employer. Only industries with at least 1,000 all openings are ranked, and only roles verified on the employer's own career site in the last week are counted.
- How often is it updated?
- Every month. This is the November 2026 edition. Older editions stay on this site at their own dated addresses.
More rankings
Cite this ranking
NextChapter, “Industries with the fewest people-management roles,” November 2026 edition. https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/industries-with-the-fewest-people-management-roles
Link to it: <a href="https://launchyournextchapter.com/rankings/industries-with-the-fewest-people-management-roles">Industries with the fewest people-management roles (NextChapter, November 2026)</a>
Download the data: CSV · JSON. Free to use with a link back.
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