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Hello my friend,
AI is changing how we work, behave, and treat each other. But the biggest impact is on our careers. As entry-level jobs disappear and people feel cornered, fear creeps in. Fear breeds politics. Politics breeds cruelty. From the bottom of the ladder to the very top.
I’m lucky these days (beehiiv doesn’t have this problem), but I wasn’t always lucky. I’ve faced or seen many cases of corporate bullying.
In May, I wrote about dealing with people who did me wrong. It was popular. I got more replies on that post than anything else I’ve ever written. I talked about clients who don’t pay. Bosses who abused my fear of losing my job. Colleagues who had no problem taking credit for my work.
What I didn’t cover was why. The roots. The details. Bullying is always unacceptable, but corporate bullying is a different beast.
In school, bullying was obvious. Insults, headlocks, mockery, and worse. But knew what you were seeing. In corporate, it’s covert (typically). Rumours that tear down your reputation. A new boss who has to “turn the department around.” Sudden policies to make you leave, so they don’t have to pay severance.
It still happens. It will continue to happen. And it sucks. What happened to just working hard, focusing on priorities, and collecting our cheques in peace? Not that simple.
But there’s a way through it, and it’s not just getting a new job.
Today, we’re getting into it.
Let’s lock in.
Context
Some stats to describe the situation (all within the last 10 years).
In the US, the Workplace Bullying Institute reported that of 30% of workers experienced bullying at work, and 19% witnessed it (49% of employees were affected).
It was up from 30% to 43% for remote workers. I didn’t expect that.
Another study found that victims had a 67% of losing a job they loved after being targeted.
Out of ten coworkers, more than half experience bullying, and then 3 of would lose their jobs over it. It really hits, doesn’t it?
And these aren’t fist fights in middle school. This is real, and livelihoods are involved.
I’ll always believe in standing up for yourself.
When enough is enough
You can be conflict-averse and still speak up. I’ve done it. That’s the first step, saying something. It starts a conversation that could change everything, and is so important. Stand your ground.
Most large companies provide an outlet. If there’s an issue with a coworkers, take it to the manager. Manager’s the problem? Go to HR.
But what if there’s no path?
That’s where healthy confrontation comes in.
Saying something to the person causing the issue, in writing.
Bringing it up the next time you speak at the office or over Zoom, but with curiosity.
Why do I have to do all these things no one else does?
How come none of this is on my job description?
Documenting the answer, and ending with the line “so you’re saying…” and repeat it back.
I’ll give you a real example from my experience. This is (in different words) a conversation I’ve had at work.
“Hey, I saw a note that my vacation was docked an hour. What happened?”
“Oh, you’d come in a bit late so we took the hour, it’s company policy.”
“I see, typically when someone works overtime, at least for me previously, the company lets small things like this go. Putting all the hours together, I worked like 15 extra hours this week.”
“Yeah, that’s just how it is.”
“Oh okay, so you’re saying that working the extra time doesn’t offer grace if I come late, with notice?”
That was the moment the CEO paid attention. I had been absolutely crushing it. I arrived at the office door at 7am every morning, and had to wait at the door for the first person to show up. I was the last to leave.
The final line from the CEO ended the conversation.
“I guess, in this case ,we can let it go,”
The hour was added back, and I continued crushing it at work. I just sent a follow up email confirming we had the conversation. It never happened again.
Was that bullying? Not like the kids who laughed at my unibrow on the playground (deep cut). But close enough.
That’s the point. Policies can be designed to abuse employees just like a bully would on the playground.
Sometimes a conversation is all it takes. It was in that one case (out of many).
But what if you can’t say anything at all?
The fear of loss
That talk with my CEO came weeks later. I waited on purpose because I was afraid. I needed the money. So I stayed quiet, until I’d proven enough. Until they didn’t want to lose me.
When money’s tight, fear multiplies. What if they get offended? What if I get fired just for speaking up?
See, that’s the fear corporate (not all companies) is low-key hoping for. Not for the fear itself. They really want us to work harder, they’re just not above using the fear we already have. Old management techniques literally taught managers how to get the most out of employees this way. It’s unspoken, pretty brutal, and something most of us may be familiar with.
Think about it. No Instagram guru is going to say: “Find someone so afraid of underachievement and getting fired that they work an extra 3 hours a day like a machine. You want that.”
I’m being cynical here, but I’ve seen it so many times I can’t un-see it.
And when there are no pathways to figure it out in the company, I’d get mad.
There’s the rage inside us that makes us consider a few things:
Make it public fight? Maybe. But if they’re a huge corporation it’ll be tough.
File a complaint with whatever labour board is in your region? Very difficult, time consuming, and tricky.
If it word gets out, does that mean you’re unemployable?
But extreme cases (and ego-fueled rage aside), I’ve these are the more pratical ways out of this.
Perform so well they’re the ones afraid of losing you, and let it go. Plant a seed that you’re looking around if it helps.
Find a different job.
Start something on the side that makes you enough money to feel secure in being jobless for a few months (bank a little extra money). And then fight to try and get a payout at least.
But what if it’s not just as simple as your own fear that stops you from speaking up?
Is there something else going on?
Looks like it. The labour market is cooling. Companies can’t don’t need all these employees if they’re making less and AI is taking work away.
The Financial Times covered this pretty well already. You can see a steady decline of entry level positions. Partially due to AI.
A classic example is “restructuring.” The company reviews its needs, and identifies employees who are no longer necessary.
But firing people means paying out severances (gets expensive). So they use corporate techniques to make you leave, so they don’t have to pay severance (aka professional bullying).
Calling remote workers back into the office full time (yes, part of this is because remote workers can be lazy). It’s to make you hate it enough to leave, too.
An assessment leads to a high performer being demoted, while people with less tenure (and worse performance) are untouched.
Some random, awful manager suddenly joins a team and makes people’s lives miserable under the guise of “turning the department around.”
I’ve been through situations like this. Was not fired. Wish I was. And only later finally did I quit and move on. I’d do things very differently.
What I’d do if I could go back again
Great companies are not defined by riding the success of 100 years ago. They’re defined by what they do today. And if they’re awful today, they’re not a great company anymore. So many companies are called “great,” because they won when there was no competition and are so big it’s impossible for them to fail today. And who suffers the most? Employees.
If I could tell old self anything, it would be: you’re not the problem. The company sucks. And if you stay there long enough, you’ll suck too. You won’t learn, you won’t grow, and you’ll continue to suffer until you move on or build your own thing (which is even harder in these situations).
The cruel irony? These tactics work. The best people smart, capable, hardworking, get trapped in bad systems. They’ll be gaslit into doubting themselves while the company coasts.
I’m convinced if they had more confidence, they’d thrive.
But confidence doesn’t come from having a company that bullies you endlessly. Picking bullshit fights. Making small things a big deal. Nobody needs that at work. So much time is spent working, it would be nice to at least enjoy it.
I get that it’s hard when you really need the money.
And with that in mind, what’s the one thing I’d recommend doing? Besides leaving the job.
Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there just a little more, professionally. Maybe a small Instagram account dedicated to your work with a post or two weekly. Maybe a newsletter like this. LinkedIn is made for this. Something to show the market you’re so much more than just stuck in a dead-end job.
I hope nobody has to go through that shit at work, and this helped you in some way. Let me know if you want to get started with a newsletter or something. Happy to chat anytime.
All the best.
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