CEO magazine is a publication which has traditionally been centered on senior executives and top-end management, but they believe an increased interest from middle managers may be accounting for a huge growth in their readership. Since 2011 the brand has experienced in incredible 25% jump in magazine subscription.

An official comment from the magazine explains:

“We regularly conduct audits of our readership for ‘The CEO Magazine,’ but our recent count of early circulation figures for 2012 gave us a jump of nearly 25% from mid-2011 in terms of hard copy magazine distribution. The problem we have is that it’s difficult to put a finger on the exact reason for the rise,” was the official comment from the magazine.”

“We’ve noticed that on top of the usual plethora of CEOs and Directors, there’s been a big jump in subscribers from middle to senior management. That having been said, we’ve put an extra focus recently on articles for business management, strategy and career development, so that could be one reason for the jump in subscribers – maybe it’s new readers wanting to move into senior roles who are educating themselves by reading ‘The CEO Magazine.'”

Perhaps many middle managers are having more upper level responsibilities fall into their laps? It never hurts to educate yourself on where the decision-makers are getting their strategies from. With the incredible amount of baby boomers retiring this decade, many middle managers may be stepping into those shoes sooner than they think.

Another explanation could have to due with the reinvigorated economy, many who stayed in lackluster positions could be seeking to leave their organizations and compete for more prestigious roles elsewhere. It sounds like it’s a good thing whatever the reason.