Australia’s manufacturing industry is losing an estimated $3.8 billion annually due to middle managers spending weeks on low-value or unnecessary tasks, according to new research from Australian-founded global technology company SafetyCulture.
The findings, published in SafetyCulture’s fifth annual Feedback from the Field report, reveal that middle managers in the manufacturing sector spend an average of 6.67 weeks each year handling administrative or repetitive duties instead of focusing on higher-value work.
Tasks such as managing rosters, chasing staff availability, collating performance data, and dealing with complaints were cited as the most time-consuming, taking managers away from more critical operational responsibilities.
Phil Goldie, SafetyCulture’s Global Head of Sales, said the findings highlight a widespread productivity challenge within manufacturing and other frontline industries.
“Middle managers are often the glue holding workplaces together by keeping people, processes, and performance aligned,” Goldie said.
“But too many are stuck firefighting or buried in admin instead of driving improvement. When we free them up to focus on what really matters, businesses see the results immediately in the form of smoother operations, stronger teams, and better customer outcomes.”
SafetyCulture’s research found that nearly all managers (98%) had ideas to improve their organisations, but fewer than two-thirds (62%) had those ideas implemented. Among those whose suggestions were overlooked, 45% said inefficiencies persisted, while 35% felt disempowered and 31% reported losing trust in senior leadership.
One of the key barriers identified was a lack of receptiveness from senior leadership, with almost one-third (31%) of respondents citing this as a reason their ideas were not adopted.
Goldie said unlocking the potential of middle managers could deliver tangible benefits across the sector.
“The insight we’re missing from middle managers is huge, because they see the problems firsthand and often know the fix,” he said.
“The challenge for leaders is to create a culture that listens, acts, and closes the loop on feedback. When that happens, inefficiency turns into improvement, and improvement turns into profit.”
The report, titled The $90 Billion Opportunity, draws on findings from a YouGov study of 1,000 Australian middle managers across industries including construction, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, transport, logistics, and energy and resources. Of these, 256 respondents worked in manufacturing.
SafetyCulture said the estimated $3.8 billion in lost productivity was calculated based on managers’ wages and the size of the Australian manufacturing workforce.
