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Toxic Workplaces Are Worsening: 80% of U.S. Workers Say Their Job Hurts Mental Health (fastcompany.com) 187

Posted by EditorDavid from the work-hurts dept.
Slashdot reader joshuark shared this report from Fast Company: According to Monster's newly released 2025 Mental Health in the Workplace survey of 1,100 workers, 80% of respondents described their workplace environment as toxic. The alarming statistic is an increase from 67% just a year ago.

The challenging environment has major implications. An astonishing 71% of workers say their mental health is poor (40%) or fair (31%), while only 29% rank it positively: 20% said it was good and 9% described it as great. Workers say that a toxic workplace culture is the top cause of their poor mental health (59%), followed closely by having a bad manager (54%)...

Mental health is incredibly important to employees. The majority (63%) care more about it than having a "brag-worthy" job. Likewise, many would pass on a promotion (43%) or opt out of a raise (33%) if it was better for their mental health... The vast majority (93%) say their employer isn't focused on supporting employee mental health — a statistic that rose drastically since just a year ago, with 78% claiming the same.
"According to the survey, more than half of workers (57%) say they'd rather quit their job than continue working in an environment they feel is toxic and overall, causing major strains to their mental wellbeing..."
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Toxic Workplaces Are Worsening: 80% of U.S. Workers Say Their Job Hurts Mental Health More

Toxic Workplaces Are Worsening: 80% of U.S. Workers Say Their Job Hurts Mental Health

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  • Is the workplace itself toxic? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by oldgraybeard ( 2939809 ) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @05:53PM (#65720392)
    Or are certain employees making it toxic for everyone?

    • Re: Is the workplace itself toxic? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @05:58PM (#65720402) Homepage Journal

      A tendency of promoting sociopaths has not been healthy for our society.

      • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

        by alvinrod ( 889928 )
        Is this a recent phenomenon? Did sociopaths of the past not seek positions of power or were they somehow kept from the reigns of it? Were Napoleon, Genghis Khan, Hitler, et al. misunderstood nice guys?

        The people who want it more will tend to win on average because they'll try harder, even if they're less talented, qualified, or unsuitable for the position. It might even be beneficial at a societal level. God forbid some other company or country has a better sociopath in charge than we do. We'd be screwed

        • Re: Is the workplace itself toxic? (Score:5, Insightful)

          by znrt ( 2424692 ) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @08:00PM (#65720566)

          Is this a recent phenomenon?

          likely not. incresing awareness and valuing one's mental health is, as is the spectrum of circunstances now considered mental health conditions. people have become more sensible to that and during good times have had more ability to choose and demand. if your problems don't "have a name" and your survival depends on your job and you are unsure you can get another one soon enough, you will just soldier on and put up with whatever comes.

          this has been a long term tendency but there are hiccups, and we are in one: unemployment is on the rise, so employers can be more demanding. return to office surely has had some effect. layoffs due to restructuring, ai, etc. then again the datapoint for people saying "their employer isn't focused on supporting employee mental health" going from 73% to 93% in a single year seems way too much, to me it suggests a measurement error, these being polls to begin with. but the medium term trend of decreasing insatisfaction with work and the current spike seem plausible.

        • I dunno. I mean, has anybody ever tried, like *really* tried identifying all the people with sociopathic traits and wiping them from the face of the Earth? I know there's been plenty of traffic in the other direction.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by dargaud ( 518470 )
            That would make you a sociopath, no ?
            More seriously I think the regular wars we used (?) to have every generation or so were a good way to cull the psychopaths, sadists and violent thugs who would be first ones to enroll, and also the 1st ones to get killed (if they don't have the time to rape their way around to propagate their gene pool).

          • I dunno. I mean, has anybody ever tried, like *really* tried identifying all the people with sociopathic traits and wiping them from the face of the Earth? I know there's been plenty of traffic in the other direction.

            Yes, it's been tried repeatedly. But keep in mind that the person trying would be, by definition, a sociopath, so they're only trying to wipe all the other sociopaths from the face of the earth.

            Obviously, non-sociopaths never try wiping people from the face of the earth. So when the wiping is finished, you'll be left with the most successful of the sociopaths at the top and the non-sociopaths doing the best they can without turning sociopathic.

            Personally I'd prefer strong rule of law, a low tolerance for se

            • It's pretty clear that sociopathy has it's place in humanities evolutionary cycle, otherwise we would turn into hobbits.

        • Is this a recent phenomenon? Did sociopaths of the past not seek positions of power or were they somehow kept from the reigns of it?

          It's a matter of degrees. Perhaps it's been too subtle of a change for most of us to notice. But despite the old idiom of boiling a frog, we are going to jump out of the pot eventually.

          Some of the regulations that we put in place after the era of robber barons did keep things in check. The government also attempted at times to break up large monopolies and resist the consolidation of corporations. Of course it didn't take long to reverse course once those regulatory barriers were lifted.

        • The people who want it more will tend to win on average because they'll try harder

          This is not true. Winners are more likely to want to win, but that doesn't mean that people who want to win are more likely to win.

        • I've been in the professional workforce for 39 years...it's never been greate.

        • > Is this a recent phenomenon?
          Not really, but getting nothing long term in return is. People would toil all their life with the expectation that they would be taken care of in their old age ( pension ). What is there to work for now ?

      • You can't have a ruling class without sociopaths and for some reason about 35 to 40% of the world is hung up on having a ruling class. Somebody above them they feel is in charge and looking out for them. And who is letting them look down on people below them.

    • Re:Is the workplace itself toxic? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @06:13PM (#65720432)
      It's probably as you state to some degree. There are certainly people I've worked with over the years that I felt made my own work experience worse for myself or those around me. Sometimes you just have to learn to deal with a shitty boss or how to look for a new job. I think I've learned more about working with other people and successful management strategies from horrible bosses and their mistakes than anything else. If my own experiences were perfect I'd only make all the same mistakes later and make others miserable as a result. But

      I also think there are a lot of people who consider everyone they work with to be an asshole without a single bit of reflection. I also think there's been a shift in what younger generations are expecting out of work. I've noticed that some of them expect everyone to be their friend and think there's something wrong if that's not happening. Most people will likely make friends with some of their co-workers, but the expectation that this is required is absurd to me. I'm paid to work with you, not to be buddies. Whatever is causing this should be addressed because sparing a child some discomfort that leads to them being emotionally stunted and miserable in later life isn't doing them any favors.

    • Re:Is the workplace itself toxic? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Brain-Fu ( 1274756 ) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @06:57PM (#65720498) Homepage Journal

      Employers are being more demanding now. The string of layoffs ever since the Fed raised the interest rate to fight inflation (with layoffs being an explicitly stated desired effect as part of the anti-inflation process), combined with the current disinclination to hire new talent, has employees under pressure. They don't want to risk losing their jobs because it will be hard and take a long time to find a replacement.

      So, naturally, employers are feeling their power returning to them and using it to exploit, over-demand, abuse, and generally take advantage of their employees.

      This is the totally-predictable outcome of human nature. It's in our DNA to abuse power once we get it.

      • Is it? Or were many wanting revenge and payback for increasing salaries since 2019 and doing remote work?

        The frustrating thing is wages were constant from 2000 to 2019 for most folks. A few professionals they did skyrocket which skewed some data. As a system administrator 75k remained constant for 18 years! Now it is finally like 115k, but adjusted for inflation you are screwed if you tried to buy a home or rent today.

        75k could get you a mcmansion in 2000. Today it is not enough for a starter home, even in

    • The "certain employee" is the CEO

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AvitarX ( 172628 )

      I assume it is the workplaces laying off people leaving more work for those remaining.

    • Re:Is the workplace itself toxic? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by TheDarkMaster ( 1292526 ) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @09:26PM (#65720676)
      Not really.

      What I have noticed happening in recent years is a tendency to replace the company's leadership and management. Removing the people who actually know the business and replacing them with generic idiots or sociopaths, who don't know shit about the company's business but are really good at making the company owners believe that they are “essential to the company”.

      And then it becomes difficult to work at these companies because, since these generic “CEOs” don't know jack shit about the company's business, they start giving absurd orders on top of absurd orders to the point where the company ends up going bankrupt or becoming so bad that it would be preferable to go bankrupt. Then your work environment ends up becoming toxic. Because your colleagues (and you) start to get stressed out by meaningless orders and restrictions imposed “because that's what the market wants” (Only the CEO thinks that), imposing increasingly difficult goals because the generic “CEO” completely believes that they are perfectly acceptable (remember that he doesn't know shit about the company's business) and starts cutting the budget where he shouldn't “because that's what the market preaches.” Of course, when the company ends up going under, it's all the fault of “the employees who didn't try hard enough to do their part,” while the “CEO” gets a golden parachute to go after his next victim.

      • There's a name for this: Private Equity.

      • This principle you mention reminds me of when I worked for a startup in 2000. We were trying to recruit a sales director and after several failures it became clear that sales people were always best at selling themselves above all else. That did not translate into sales of the product !

    • Unless you are referring to "toxicity" in the sense of asbestos or leaded pipes, it's always going to be an employee.

    • The problem is the same as it always have been. The skills needed to acquire power do not align with the skills needed to exercise power

    • If the workplace policies and procedures don't prevent certain employees making it toxic for everyone, then it's the workplace, same as how a business which cannot pay a living wage doesn't deserve to exist because it's an unsustainable business model.

    • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

      by eth1 ( 94901 )

      What might be starting to happen is that there are increasing numbers of these "snowflake" employees that are offended by everything, can't take a joke, etc. For them, "normal" people are toxic because OMG! they occasionally make a slightly off-color joke, or something, then go straight to HR. So they think the workplace is toxic because they're forced to be exposed to that. Normal people then have to carefully watch every word that comes out of their mouths, can't have any fun or relax, so they consider th

  • After RTO mandates, who is surprised? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by khchung ( 462899 ) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @06:15PM (#65720436) Journal

    Guess what's very effective at protecting you from a toxic workplace? Remote working. (Not saying it is 100%)

    Guess what happened to remote working in the last two years? RTO mandates.

    Guess what's worse than living in hell? Going back to hell after spending a few years outside of it, knowing it is not necessary to doing your job.

    Who is surprised that, after RTO mandates, more workers say their workplace is toxic?

    • This x 100
      • If I was going to pay someone to do work for me, I'd want it done at a work location, not their home. You'll get more out of them at a workplace rather than somewhere where there's constant distractions, other more pressing issues, more fun things. When you're at work, there's nothing to do but work. That's good for the people wanting the work done. Not good for slackers wanting a paycheck but also wanting to get stuff done around the house, look after their kids at the same time (the glorified daycare that

        • I have three close friends who work in IT. Two work for companies that don't HAVE offices anymore. The third works for a local council. He has no need to be in the office, but the council has imposed a RTO 2 days a week directive on all its employees. The idea is that is that its employees will support the local economy...

          Yes, it requires a different approach to managing; you don't just count the number of bums on seats every day, you have to look at whether the work is getting done. And not that the fact t

        • The slackers are just participating in ./ discussions instead of working.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by erice ( 13380 )
      I think it more than just the actual result of RTO. RTO shows the management is perfectly willing, eager even, to create a toxic work environment for mere hypothetical benefits. If the bar for company benefit at the expense of employee wellbeing is so low, what ELSE are they willing to do and actively doing?

  • or people are getting softer (Score:3)

    by XaXXon ( 202882 ) <xaxxon.gmail@com> on Sunday October 12, 2025 @06:27PM (#65720462) Homepage

    So many people think their job is supposed to take care of their non-job needs. That's silly to rely on others for that.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by RedK ( 112790 )

      People getting to used to some jobs being huge adult day cares, they think any sort of productivity is toxicity.

      The new generation is getting softer. "This code isn't good" to them is a macro aggression.

      • "The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise."
        -- Socrates, supposedly, but probably not.

  • we used to drink on the job

    • I'm so sad that I was too young to get in on the three-martini lunches! But I guess since I wasn't a businessman, I would've missed out anyway...

      We did used to go out for computing group lunches, though, and typically good beer was a part of those.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by haruchai ( 17472 )

        as recently as 10 years ago one Friday lunch a month would last until about 5pm and more than once in a while it would turn into supper at another place with a fine selection of liquids.
        i don't think that'll be happening again until i retire

  • The more the bread you make the less shit you taste.

    The necessity to work is a burden, that is all.

  • Ending WFH and doing Return to office (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Billly Gates ( 198444 ) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @08:10PM (#65720576) Journal

    Employees who do not want to spend over 2 hours a day and $300 a month in gas just to join Teams meetings in a shared open office when they can do the same at home, so they can be watched by managers who do not believe in remote work or self atanomy and feeling stressed and disgusted by disrepect. SHOCKING!

    Musk brought micro management and Style X Management from the 1950s back in style again, and away from Style Y and empowermment. It is all the rage now in leadership. Attendence, attendence, and attendence, and firing if you make a mistake. Forget about trying new innovative things and being creative.

    THe pendelumn has swung back to the employers HARD from the employees and it is showing. I wonder if this is revenge syndrome from the C Suite who felt blackmailed to pay people more back when in 2019 they paid the same in 2005 and in office attendance where workers finally got a pay raise and gave the finger to in office work? Now the jobs are paying closer to 2020 levels.

  • The fact that so many people consider their workplaces toxic, undoubted contains an element of unrealistic expectations, but the fact that numbers have gotten significantly worse in a year is worth noting. I am sure that these numbers are inflated, after all they are from a job search site, which is likely to be primarily used, by people who are looking for a new job. People who are satisfied with the working conditions are not likely to be included. On the other hand, it is well known to everyone who re

  • AI delusions (Score:4, Interesting)

    by BytePusher ( 209961 ) on Sunday October 12, 2025 @08:40PM (#65720608) Homepage
    Management is having delusions of firing everyone and replacing them with AI. Even if it's a fantasy, it impacts the level of emotional investment and empathy management has towards workers. The pendulum will swing back, but not until businesses get a sharp reminder that they still need workers.

  • "My job hurts my mental health" just doesn't mean anything. What are you expecting from work? Work is work, and it's stressful. Stress affects mental health. So does paying bills, raising kids, health problems, relationship problems, getting old. Life is stressful but nobody says "life is increasingly toxic".

    I actually have found the opposite when it comes to the working environment. When I started on Wall Street we worked a lot more hours than is expected now. I used to think kids coming out of colleg

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by RedK ( 112790 )

      If they think modern work is stressful and affecting their mental health, wonder what they would think of primitive hunting/gathering and trying to just survive in the cold without a latte and a onesie.

    • Sounds like things are looking up now that the younger generations won't put up with being exploited.

      • I've been in software development for 30 years and the last time I was expected to work more than 8 hours a day was 20+ yeas ago.
    • I put it this way: if work was fun they wouldn't have to pay you to do it.
    • There are two types of stress. One is energizing and exciting, the other is not.

      Examples of energizing and exciting:
      - You know you will get a raise if you meet target x and the raise is enough to change your life in some small way
      - You know you will get a bonus if you meet target x and the bonus is enough to change your life in some small way
      - You know that you will get a promotion that will bring significantly more money if you do a good job.
      - You know that you will profit if you do work that help

  • Crappy economy -> Shareholders complain about shareholder value -> Board of directors responds -> CEO gets new marching orders to increase profitability -> It travels down the management hierarchy -> Layoffs, increased hours, more pressure to meet deadlines which seem unattainable -> Monetary Policy Loosens -> People quit or suck it up -> Company suddenly realizes they are understaffed -> Company goes on a hiring spree -> Salaries increase -> Monentary policy tightens ->

  • How many of these people reporting poor mental health are going untreated? I have a couple people who report to me who are definitely not doing so great mentally but going untreated and deny having any issues even with all the support and workplace mental health programs available. One I just let go, and another one I'd love to get rid of if my manager didn't have such a soft spot for the guy and doesn't care about all the drama he causes. I think a lot of the time, toxic workplaces start at the top, and i

  • Gen Z are a bunch of babies whose feelings are hurt if you look at them funny.

  • "According to the survey, more than half of workers (57%) say they'd rather quit their job than continue working in an environment they feel is toxic ... "

    So why don't they quit?
    Not being snarky, it's a genuine question. If they're that unhappy, there is absolutely nothing stopping them starting a business themselves and running it with all the principles of kindness and generosity and compassion that (they assert) is missing in the workplace they're in.

    And while I know the (coincidentally self-exoneratory

    • In America many people don't quit because that would mean rolling the dice on their family not getting sick while having no health coverage.
      • And yet, since dual career couples are the norm now, and presumably both of you are offered health benefits, you could do it. I've always been the one who provided those benefits to my wife and me, so I just groused sometimes and got on with it, and looked for the least toxic jobs. But, yeak, work cultures take their toll on one's mental health.

        • I've always been the one who provided those benefits to my wife and me

          Therein lies the rub. Sure there are some who could be covered by their spouse, but I don't really think it is as common as you think. I'm in Canada, but I am also in the same position. Spouse's coverage is crap and I cover her. In the US I could not just quit my job and then look for another.

  • Open office bullshit with 100 desks cramped in one room. need to wear noise cancelling headset all day to be able to focus on work. shitty screens, mouse and keyboard.
    At home i have:
    - Peace and quiet environment to focus on work.
    - 2* 27" screens
    - A proper keyboard and mouse
    - Better headset for teams meeting
    - Don't have to stand up in a "phonebooth" with my laptop to have teams meetings with a 10 year old headset that sounds like a tin can.
    - Don't need to listen to music or youtube videos to drown out the ch

  • Say that going broke and starving is worse for their mental health than their last job was.

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