Stressful, toxic work environments are on the rise

Stressful, toxic work environments are on the rise

How many of you know someone who works in a stressful and/or toxic environment? I’ll wager that almost everyone reading this essay knows someone in this boat, possibly including themselves. Though I have heard about and experienced myself these work milieus, it seems lately I am hearing more complaints about the toxicity/stress of the workplace than usual, and I would like to explore why.

According to the latest Monster.com survey on Oct. 13, 2025, 80% of the workers who responded said that their work environments are stressful and toxic. This is a marked increase from their 2024 survey where 67% of respondents said their workplace was toxic and stressful. The most recent report stated that 47% of Europeans, overall, claimed their jobs were toxic and stressful—far less than us.

The Scandinavian countries use the term, “mobbing,” which means “systematic mistreatment,” (the Scandinavian word for mobbing varies between the three Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden). The French call it, “milieu de travail toxique,” which translates to “toxic workplace,” and the German term is: feindselige arbeitsumgebung,” meaning “hostile work environment.”

In Japan and Korea, the average worker works 10 to 11 hours a day, and their suicide rates are among the highest in the world. Both countries also have a high death rate from overworking. A 2023 survey by the McKinsey Health Institute discovered that Japanese workers scored considerably lower than the global average on employee well being (25% compared to 57%). The latest data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed that South Koreans still rank among the longest working populations, globally, and 40% of full-time employees reported burnout symptoms.

One of the most toxic and stressful workplaces on Earth is China, which calls itself the “996 culture,” meaning they work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days per week. I saw some videos on Chinese workers where some of the Walmart laborers begged the owner of Walmart to please let them have a couple of holiday days off to visit with family. The answer was no. Unfortunately, China is a communist state, and dissent is punished harshly, such as when in 2010, when I was vacationing in Hong Kong, dozens of police from Beijing came into Hong Kong and ordered their police to arrest protesters for democracy, an action they repeated in the Jasmine Revolution in mainland China in 2011. In 2019-2020, The New York Times, PBS and Amnesty International reported multiple instance of police beating Hong Kong protesters, using tear gas and water canons on them, and other unspecified tortures.

Recently, I have spoken with workers from several occupations in the United States, and they relayed interesting stories to me. Lisa, a middle-aged factory worker, said that the workers were asked by a mid-50ish supervisor, Andrew, what they would like to see changed about their job, as their factory’s turnover is extremely high. She stated; “I would like to be able to do part of my job sitting, like some other workers do, not standing for eight hours straight. My knee and back are killing me. I wish that whenever we do get a few minutes of free time, you guys wouldn’t make us sweep, mop and pick up trash, even though you already have maintenance staff that do it.” The supervisor said coldly: “we can’t change those things.” Lisa quit the next day after her doctor advised that the job would further damage her knee. Interestingly, Alicia, a new employee, 10 years her junior, complained to Andrew that she didn’t like the conditions of this same work station, and he let her do sit-down office work. Another worker, Kelly, in her mid-30s, told Lisa that she and other workers had made similar requests of the supervisor previously, and they were always turned down by Andrew— except in Alicia’s case.

Tim, a Marine veteran in his mid-40s, asked his 30-ish supervisor, Brad, if he would please stop banging his coffee cup loudly, (which he did for no apparent reason), because it disrupted his ability to hear people on the phone, and set off his PTSD. Brad agreed, but kept doing it anyway, and smirked at Tim as if toying with him. Tim went to the 50-ish HR woman, Tina, and she took the complaint and told Tim she knew it must be hard on him, and she would speak with Brad about it. After work, Tim received a phone call from the operations manager, Peter, and was terminated. Tim asked why, and Peter answered dryly: “It’s just not working out.’ Tim told him it didn’t make sense since he had the second most amount of sales in the office, then asked: “Is it because I have PTSD?” and after a long pause, Peter said, “no.’

David, a security guard in his early ‘40s and a army veteran, was working a security job, and his relief showed up 15 to 20 minutes late every day. This happened after David pulled eight hours of graveyard shift duty, five days per week; he told his relief, Ronnie, who is about his age, that he needs to be on time, since David is not being paid to be there after 8 a.m., and that Ronnie is being paid for David’s work. Ronnie said nothing, and was late again. David reported these occurrences to his middle-aged supervisor, Jenny, and the supervisor said, raising her voice: “It doesn’t matter what Ronnie does!; you can’t leave until he shows up, or you are deserting your post, just like in the military!” David rejoined, keeping his calm; “In the army, you cannot constantly be late relieving someone for duty. I saw a guy get court martialed for that once, and a few others got article 15s. It’s unfair that he gets paid for my 15-20 minutes of extra labor? It says in the employee handbook that I should get overtime if I work over my 40 hours.”

The supervisor shrugged her shoulders and answered, her voice raised: “Those are MY rules! Since you were in the army, you should know how to follow rules without question!” David was very upset and frustrated, but maintained a civil tone: “My shift says I get paid to work from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m., and I am not going to keep working overtime unless I am paid for it. In the army we are taught to be on time, and those that are not get in trouble.” Predictably, Ronnie was again late the next morning, but this time, David left at 8 a.m. as promised. Ronnie reported him for not being there at 8:18 a.m., when he arrived, and Jenny fired him.

Work can be a very satisfying experience when everyone is treated fairly, and employees feel that they are valuable members of a team. But when rules are arbitrary, and some employees are showed favoritism for no good reason, this creates a stressful, toxic work environment for most. I had more room, I would relay some other examples of incompetent managers and employees. As a former manager myself, I tried to never show favoritism, for it is very unprofessional.

Kenny, a retired HR Director for 27 years, who is in his early 60s now, told me: “Management personnel don’t go through manager-trainee programs much anymore, like they did, say, 15 years ago and before. They aren’t taught the basic principles of management, and usually have no idea how to handle employee conflicts and other issues. Most managers don’t know how to manage anymore, and there is little real leadership.” I think Kenny’s assessment is valid.

Career Contessa listed 10 signs you’re in a toxic work environment as:

1. Bad communication

2. Cliques, exclusion and gossipy behavior

3. Poor leadership

4. Unmotivated coworkers

5. Stifled growth

6. Rapid-employee turnover

7. No work-life balance

8. You feel burnt out

9. No forward movement

10. Your gut is telling you.

It is my hope that we working people will strive to make our work environments more consistent and sound for everyone, and that management will go back to training programs where they are schooled in management principles, like they used to. Promoting managers from within when they have not been taught any leadership skills is a bad idea; it creates a chaotic environment where employees have no confidence in their managers. Real managers know how to resolve disputes between personnel, and effectively set an example that their employees can follow.