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Key Takeaways
- A new survey examined the effects of toxic workplaces. About 30% of Americans who are looking for work say that things are worse than they were three years ago.
- Over 20% of employees surveyed said they've witnessed a rise in coworkers being mean to each other over the past year.
- According to a new survey, a toxic workplace culture can cause employees to use their vacation, personal or sick leave in order to avoid it.
Are American workplaces getting more toxic? New research suggests so.
According to a survey conducted by Express Employment Professionals and Harris Poll on Wednesday, 30% of employed Americans who also seek jobs believe that their coworkers are more confrontational today than they were three years ago.
Almost half of the respondents said they've observed workplace gossip; nearly 40% have witnessed unprofessional communication of some sort; and about 30% say they’ve noticed coworkers avoiding working or collaborating with another employee—or even fully excluding them. About a quarter said they’ve seen colleagues take credit for someone else's work.
In the press release were quotes from people who described physical confrontations and senior employees bullying their junior ones because of credentials. More than a fifth of the people surveyed said they observed a rise in employees being "mean" to others over the past year.
What should be accomplished? Over 60% of respondents thought that companies should post signs encouraging people to be nice to one another. Nearly half of those who had experienced a toxic work environment expected their employers to do nothing or little about it.
In an older survey, more that a third said they would take a paycut to work in a less toxic workplace. Some employees took matters into their own hand: According to this report, up to 44% of employees affected by a toxic environment said they used vacation or personal leaves to avoid it. Over 30% used sick leave.
