FlexJobs Report: Toxic Managers and Coworkers Pervasive in the Workplace (2024)

Most professionals have experienced a toxic work environment. From the manager who undermines and micromanages to the coworker who sabotages, a toxic workplace can drain you and lead to a host of personal and professional issues, leaving a lasting impact that extends far beyond the office walls or virtual workplace.

To learn more about toxic work environments, FlexJobs surveyed over 8,400 professionals, diving into their experiences with toxic managers and coworkers. Between August 2, 2023, and August 17, 2023, FlexJobs’ Toxicity in the Workplace Survey reached out to working professionals who shared not only their experiences with workplace toxicitybut the impact it had on their well-being.

Toxic Managers in the Workplace

Creating and maintaining a healthy and productive work environment is one of the top responsibilities of employers. Unfortunately, as the FlexJobs survey will show, toxic managers are not only prevalent in the workplace but are not being held accountable for their actions. This leads to huge impacts for those affected, as well as the organization as a whole.

— Pervasiveness of Toxic Bosses

Scroll through any social media site and you’ll see it teeming with workers sharing their experiences with toxic managers. The FlexJobs survey was no different, with 87% of respondents sharing they’ve worked with at least one toxic manager during their professional journey. While that leaves only 13% having never worked for a toxic boss or manager, it left 57% working with one toxic manager and 30% having worked with more than one toxic manager during their career.

— What Makes a Manager Toxic

Understanding what makes a manager toxic is important to be able to evaluate the situation, as well as for employers to hire and train better leaders. Survey respondents shared a range of qualities that make managers toxic, with the top three being “poor communicator” (43%), acting “dismissively” (41%), and “micromanaging” (40%). The remaining toxic management traits included:

• Passive-aggressive behavior (40%)
• Failure to foster growth (34%)
• Rude or offensive behavior; used sarcasm and put-downs (33%)
• Had unreasonable expectations (30%)
• Didn’t praise or give credit appropriately (26%)
• Gossiped (22%)
• Lacked boundaries (21%)
• Used threats or intimidation (20%)
• Gaslighting (20%)
• Discriminatory or sexually inappropriate comments or actions (18%)

— How to Work With a Toxic Boss

Part of being an employee is being able to manage up and provide feedback when needed. However, having a toxic boss can complicate the process and make any communication a struggle. Many of the respondents (43%) who had worked for a toxic manager quit or left their job because of the toxic behavior. Of those that didn’t outright quit, there were other ways in which they worked to address the situation with their toxic boss, including:

• Giving feedback directly to their boss, which was ignored (28%)
• Giving feedback to HR, which was ignored (21%)
• “Quiet quitting” their job (12%)
• Giving feedback directly to their boss, which was applied (11%)
• Giving feedback to HR, which was applied (8%)

— Impact of Working for a Toxic Manager

Anyone who’s worked for a toxic boss likely has a story on the negative impact it had on their personal and professional lives. Additionally, the impact of a toxic manager had both mental health consequences (increased anxiety and depression, decline in engagement) and physical effects (headache, sleep issues, stomach issues, and appetite changes). Here’s a breakdown of their responses:

• Increased anxiety (51%)
• Mental fatigue (44%)
• Physical symptoms (33%)
• Increased depression (32%)
• Decline in engagement (30%)
• Questioning of skill set (30%)
• Decline in productivity (24%)
• Decline in performance (24%)
• Misdirected stress on friends/family (21%)
• Imposter syndrome (16%)

With increased anxiety and mental fatigue being the top two impacts of a toxic workplace, the survey looked at how it affects workers across the career spectrum. The survey found that toxic behaviors from managers have far-reaching effects on both new and seasoned employees.

• Gen Z: Increased anxiety (34%), mental fatigue (25%)
• Millennials: Increased anxiety (49%), mental fatigue (41%)
• Gen X: Increased anxiety (61%), mental fatigue (55%)
• Boomers: Increased anxiety (52%), mental fatigue (43%)

Toxic Coworkers in the Workplace

Unfortunately, toxic bosses aren’t the only unsettling relationships that can impact the workplace. In many people’s experiences, toxic coworkers can also wreak havoc on the day-to-day, impacting not only their personal experiences but also their professional goals.

— Pervasiveness of Toxic Coworkers

Through the survey, FlexJobs also explored how prevalent toxic coworkers were in the workplace. As with toxic managers, most respondents (84%) have worked with at least one toxic coworker. More specifically, 57% of survey respondents noted they had worked with a toxic coworker, and another 27% stated they had worked with more than one toxic coworker. That leaves a small 16% of the workforce having not worked with a toxic coworker during their career.

— What Makes a Coworker Toxic?

Knowing what to look out for in a toxic coworker can help to avoid or at least better understand and navigate those toxic relationships. Through the survey, professionals shared their top toxic traits in coworkers. Here’s the full breakdown of the data:

• Excessive complaining and negativity (44%)
• Acting unprofessionally (41%)
• Not being a team player (40%)
• Manipulative or self-serving behavior (35%)
• Lack of accountability (34%)
• Passive-aggressive behavior (33%)
• Gossiped (32%)
• Focused on blame, rather than solutions (32%)
• Poor communicator (30%)
• Rude or offensive (30%)
• Lacked boundaries (29%)
• Took credit inappropriately (29%)
• Discriminatory or sexually inappropriate comments or actions (17%)
• Gaslighting (14%)

— How to Work With a Toxic Coworker

With a majority of working professionals being faced with a toxic coworker, it’s important to know how to deal with the situation should it arise. The survey participants shared their experiences with dealing with toxic coworkers, with a large portion (46%) attempting to provide feedback directly to the coworker or to HR, which was ignored.

• Giving feedback to coworker, which was ignored (26%)
• Giving feedback to HR, which was ignored (20%)
• Quit/left their job (16%)
• Gave feedback to coworker, which was applied (15%)
• Gave feedback to HR, which was applied (14%)
• Quiet quit (8%)

Importance of Healthy Work Environments

With so many professionals being subjected to toxic behaviors in the workplace and their concerns being ignored by both the toxic person and their HR department, it’s not surprising to see that quitting their job is one of the most common ways to deal with the situation.

This isn’t, however, the solution that companies should be OK with. Holding managers and toxic coworkers accountable not only works to solve the immediate issue but also creates a stronger culture and environment where people thrive and want to work. And as the survey showed, with decreased engagement and productivity, employers should take a proactive approach to protect their workers and the organization as a whole.