#bullying

Office politics are so much worse when you have to navigate them in person. From micromanaging to bullying to being put in the middle of arguments... It drains people in a way that's much, much worse than just hearing about it or dealing with it from a distance. I'd take a pay cut to avoid it.

Does anyone else endure bad behavior by H-1Bs in the office? My office is chock full of them and they routinely speak at volumes that are more suitable for an NFL game. They also stare at me way too long and it makes me uncomfortable.

Anybody else about to say fu-k it all and quit without a backup plan because their manager is nothing but a bully who has to compensate for his own many insecurities by putting his subordinates down every chance he gets? Welcome to the new Oracle, I guess.

Biggest bully manager at DSG?!!!
...and gets away with it...bc we all know the rules do not apply to everyone here like they want folks to think.

The more I read these threads, the more I see the same people saying the same things. It’s a bit sad really.

Former employees. Retirees. People who left years ago but still seem oddly invested in every headline and every rumour. I know a few of them personally - nice people but it’s a bit tragic how their identity is tied to a company. They read something in the papers and appear here as though they’re still sitting in the office. They would spend their kids wedding taking about what bp is doing wrong - true story. I find it quite sad, if I’m honest. At some point, you have to move on. Bp owes you nothing. You signed the contract. They followed it.

On bullying, there is truth in it. The post naming initials was accurate. Some of those behaviours were disgraceful and remain a stain on bp’s history. During the ‘good’ years, too many people got away with things because they delivered results. BL a casing point. There are others who could be added to that list. The difference now is that those behaviours are no longer ignored.

What I struggle with is the constant bitterness. A lot of the loudest criticism comes from people carrying old grudges, people who never got the promotion they wanted, or people who have convinced themselves that bp was the source of every setback in their career. That’s an easy story to tell yourself. It just isn’t always true. Let’s leave the future to the generation trying to turn this around.

One of the best things bp has done recently is show some backbone. Poor behaviour is being called out. People are being held accountable. BL and AM are examples. One person who should not be allowed to quietly disappear into the background is (*D) AC. A complete failure of leadership, judgement and self-awareness. Time to go.

The portfolio review is the right decision. Not everyone will agree with it. That’s fine. Leadership is not about making decisions that please everyone. When the details are announced, the reasoning will be clear enough.

And on Meg, I couldn’t disagree more with some of the comments made here. I’ve worked with a number of CEOs, inside and outside bp. She is one of the most impressive. The direction is right. The priorities are right. And she has dealt with a series of challenges that were not of her making with real composure and resilience.

I’ll leave it with this:

“It is not the critic who counts…”

It’s always easier to sit in the stands and tell everyone else what they should have done. Much harder to be the one making the decisions when the outcome actually matters. That’s the difference.

From the Economist today….

Since 2020 as many people have run bp as have run Britain. Sir Keir Starmer, the
fourth prime minister in as many years, promised to end the pantomime in
Westminster. Last year Albert Manifold was appointed as chairman of bp to do the
same thing in nearby St James’s Square. Sir Keir is still hanging on. Mr Manifold is
finished. On May 26th, after less than eight months in post, Mr Manifold was sacked in
a unanimous vote by the board, which includes Meg O’Neill, the oil company’s new
chief executive.
Mr Manifold inherited a neglected giant. The net-zero strategy of his predecessor
Helge Lund, a Norwegian, had made bp uninvestable. It is fitting, then, that Mr
Manifold’s dismissal should have the air of a Eurocratic initiative. The timing of the
directive announcing his departure could not have been better chosen to agitate
markets. It travelled down the wires just as traders in New York returned to their desks
after a bank-holiday weekend and were busy digesting news about a possible end to
America’s war in Iran. Shares in bp fell by nearly 10%.
But the real sin was the statement’s style. It was written in the worst literary tradition
of arrogant, managerial minimalism. Rather than elaborate on the reasons why bp must
now search for another chairman, the board o!ered just a few lines of cryptic lanyard-
speak. There are “serious concerns” about “important governance standards, oversight
and conduct”, the statement said. Trust us, he’s a wrong’un, pleaded a board which
shareholders have little reason to trust. Like Sir Keir, bp’s board appeals confidently to
an authority that has been spent twice over.
Thus began a guessing game: what did Mr Manifold do that was seemingly awful
enough to jeopardise bp’s turnaround? Plotting a coup in some faraway resource-rich
land? Not likely. Trying to sink Ed Miliband, Britain’s fanatical minister for net zero, in
the North Sea? If only. Predictably, initial speculation turned to sleaze. In its recent
history two bp chief executives have left their posts in bizarre circumstances related to
their private lives.
That wasn’t it, either. Instead, Mr Manifold was apparently exiled from clubland for
being a bad chap. The Financial Times reported allegations that he had been viewed by
some at bp as aggressive and that the board had received complaints from whistle-
blowers. Some reportedly called him a bully. On May 28th Mr Manifold responded. Yes,
he may have pushed people to accelerate cost-cutting and strengthen the balance-
sheet. But “at no point”, he wrote, “has anyone raised with me any issue about my
conduct...I dispute entirely this characterisation of my conduct.”
If Mr Manifold was truly intolerable, the board must explain to shareholders in more
detail. If he was merely disagreeable, that is probably proof of a job well done. As a
supposed City grandee herself, Dame Amanda Blanc, the bp director who led the
process to appoint Mr Manifold, would surely have known his City-wide reputation for
directness. Having (very) successfully run crh, an Irish building-materials firm, for a
decade, Mr Manifold could hardly have been expected to be a passive and detached
chairman.
Accusations of abrasiveness are, in the markets’ eyes at least, a less serious crime than
Accusations of abrasiveness are, in the markets’ eyes at least, a less serious crime than
the value destruction of which other members of the board are plainly guilty. Sure, bp
is in much better shape than it was a year ago. Profits from producing oil rise with the
price of the commodity, after all. The company’s traders are making a fortune. Last
year it made a huge discovery o! the coast of Brazil. Its corporate structure is in the
process of being simplified. But the job is not even half finished. Costs are out of
control, including at its headquarters in St James’s. It is the most indebted of the major
oil companies and still bears the weight of some of its worst misadventures in
renewable energy.
Must bp always be as ungovernable as Britain? Oil majors often reflect the politics of
their home countries. Exxon and Chevron are run by men who care little about the
separation of powers. Both run the board and manage the company. Together the firms
are worth $400bn more than a decade ago. The top job at TotalEnergies, the French oil
major, is held by a former civil servant; at Eni, by a colourful Italian. The two have
outperformed their British rival. bp, once in e!ect a branch of the British state in the
Middle East, now mirrors its decline. Whitehall talks about “delivering at pace”; bp,
about “moving at pace”. Neither goes anywhere.
Manifold destiny
The psychodrama at bp could not have been better designed to embarrass Britain’s
business elite. One view is that an outsider was appointed to shake things up at a
national champion before being pushed out unceremoniously by a club of grandees
who talk about change without really wanting it. An alternative reading of Mr
Manifold’s tenure is about as bad: an amateur with little experience in the industry
thought he knew better than the experts and came unstuck. The big American firms
would hardly hand such power to someone new to drilling.
The main problem with reforming Britain’s business elite is that it doesn’t really have
one. Those in America, Japan, France and Germany are all easily pictured. But Britain?
Its once-mighty merchant banks have disappeared. So have its fund managers. Its
biggest companies, like bp, have mostly become a global clearing house for mediocre
management talent.
The City nowadays is best viewed as a battleground between European collectivist
politics and American finance. Capitalist villains such as oil companies, tobacco giants
and banks make up much of Britain’s stockmarket. But the top investment banks and
funds fly the American flag. The saga at bp is a case in point. It threw itself zealously
into net zero. Now it is being disciplined, mostly by Elliott Management, an American
hedge fund. A very British shambles—and an international joke.

How is this okay? They sit around and share negative opinions about specific employees without any shame. Word gets around fast and now nobody trusts anyone and everyone is scared of being next. That's not leadership. That's bullying, plain and simple.

I have put up with being underpaid and overworked for years because I am used to it. But my new manager has crossed a line. I refuse to be yelled at and bullied every single day by someone who only got his job because he knows how to flatter the right people. I am too old for this nonsense. I don't have anything lined up, but I'm going to give my notice next time he gets into my face.

This is 1000% Wells Fargo today: The most dangerous workplace bully isn't your coworker, it's your manager. Because when the person targeting you also controls performance, documentation, and reputation, it's not conflict, it's leverage.

Oh boy...who else noticed all the derogatory comments he keeps making. Now he is openly talking bad about his peers. Jeez

vp bolted so directors are now trying to level up themselves by punching down on the lower level members on the team. it’s actually stunning how far you can go by giving all your work to your juniors with zero direction and then publicly dressing them down when it’s not up to your (see: dipsh-t) standards. so much for being an industry veteran when someone with no experience can tell you how it is. the job hunt continues!

The leadership of the outpatient UM team needs a rehaul. They don’t know the operations or business well enough to be in those positions and it’s like a high school clique. No room for feedback and snotty bullying like a bunch of mean girls. I’m surprised with all the changes they haven’t used this as an opportunity to get some talent in there.

Working at Mondelez is making me sick. Not metaphorically. Actually sick. The stress, the harassment, the constant toxicity, it's affecting my health. And I'm not alone. Good employees are leaving every week. I've heard from people in the industry, nobody respects this company anymore. And they certainly don't respect the people who work here. The way we're treated is awful. Harassment is normal. Bullying is standard. This place is toxic from top to bottom and it's taking a real physical toll on the people stuck here.

This is my first job, I've been here for ten months, and I'm already over it all. Between toxic work atmosphere, managers who're nothing more than bullies, and constant worries about layoffs, how are people able to do this for 40 years of their lives, some even more???

To every employee that endured the toxic work culture at Schwab, circular, unproductive meetings, meaningless tasks, redlined deliverables, Director micromanagement, bullying, and overall low morale, where others take credit for your work and perpetrators inconsistently meet the actual workers expectations I encourage you to walk away, stay clear of this organization and file complaints with the EEOC! Did you know Schwab has ppt. Slides tracking claims against the organization and Hostile Work Environment tops their list.

I have real trouble with a new manager. I've been either left out of the work that fits my skillset, or outright subjected to passive-aggressive treatment. I thought it was some personal animosity at first, now I have the impression it's a campaign to make me leave. If that's the case, why not just lay me off? It's not as if my salary makes me worth all the special attention. Have any of you had a similar experience?

If you haven't visited this site (WallStreetDiscriminates.com) you need to. Post to the site if you have a story to share. I'm working on drafting mine. Using these info from Forbes: Women account for roughly 30% to 35% of workplace bullies. Women bullies target women approximately 65% to 68% of the time, which is almost twice the rate that men bully women in the workforce. Workplace bullying : repeated mistreatment that can include verbal abuse, social exclusion, humiliation, and work sabotage.

The prior post was just about that town hall. The issues in this team go way beyond a useless town hall. Share your stories of bullying and dysfunction. We just lost the best engineering guy the company had. The story we heard was he got sick of the micromanagement and cost-cutting by leadership. Pulled his parachute. Vendors run us over and we can't do anything we need to. Thanks Mr. Reed for nothing.

There is one KY manager that is incredibly toxic. They bully their employees by grill them about their decisions, one ups them, and makes them second guess themselves. If I wanted the college studying and "exam" 1:1 life, I'd go back to college. This person is just plain mean and seems to get their jollies off of making employees flustered during 1:1s. I want to report them but am afraid that I would be found out and fired instead. So as of now, we are all just waiting for the hub strategy to mitigate "the problem". I'm tempted by "fight or flight" response to either "lay into them about their bad behavior on their last day" or conveniently "call in sick". That person is a human piece of trash and the second choice may be my best choice.

In addition, I'm very sorry that you all got laid off. You didn't deserve it and I hope you all get better jobs than your previous ones.

The most dangerous thing about the current state of PepsiCo India I&O isn't just the bullying, the cheating on metrics, or the constant backbiting—it’s the fact that HR is completely missing in action. While leadership talks about "simplified structures" and "efficiency" for the 2026 fiscal year, the human element has been totally abandoned. HR has become a ghost department. When you report harassment or toxic behavior in the Infrastructure & Operations team, don't expect an investigation. Expect silence. Or worse, expect HR to suddenly reappear only to flip the script and make you the problem for speaking up.
They are no longer a resource; they are a shield for the bullies. By refusing to take action or even acknowledge the I&O culture, HR has essentially signaled that harassment is the "new norm" for survival during these layoffs.
To anyone still there: Don't look to HR for help. They’ve checked out. Document everything and protect yourself, because the "Performance with Purpose" slogan clearly doesn't apply to how they treat their own people in India.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUHvLaqBZgA

Meeting after meeting after meeting dealing with that one loud mouth bully abusing employees and contractors alike, and the "leadership" here does nothing. Watch the rest of the talent dip once those aip checks get cashed...

I have overheard the supervisors and managers talking about the posts and disgruntled employees posting on this site. It truly scares them and they don't want the new hires knowing about all the dysfunction and toxicity. Some covered up safety violations and firings have been exposed and posted. I loved in a town hall the then CEO of exxon mentioned that employees were posting they were year to year contractors and that this was eroding morale. Some exxon sites operate on intimidation and fear tactics. I attended a meeting where my stupidvisor threatened everyone with insubordination and retaliation for complaining. The stupidvisor said I don t want to have to fire anyone as they had the power to do it. They took pleasure in firing several contractors in the section. It talked so bad about the terminated employees and said they just were not excon material. One employee was fired to cover up the mistake of an employee friend of the supervisor. The supervisor would go out to lunch with this protected employee. There are some real evil snakes in exxon management. Several of the safety incidents should have been reported to OSHA but the employees are to scared and intimidated to do so.

I’m asking for those who were bullied, treated unfairly, wrongfully terminated, or laid off under questionable circumstances.

A corporate-focused attorney independently raised this question. One of my coworkers had a very strong case, but ultimately withdrew after the company terminated the manager involved. In another case, an employee reportedly received a significant settlement, suggesting these concerns may not have been isolated.

At this point, I am only trying to understand how many people may have been affected and whether there is a shared pattern worth evaluating further. This is not an accusation, and no action would be taken without professional legal advice.

If this applies to you, you’re welcome to respond or reach out privately.

Canon's declining market share and toxic corporate culture isn't just in the US. China is no different! The Zhuhai and Zhongshan factories have closed. Canon China sales company is laying off employees every year. the CEO and the Japanese managers are very much into the a-s-kissing culture. This This Retired managers continue to be promoted, middle level cadres are laid off as much as possible, and younger employees are bullied. This is the worst company I have ever seen.

When someone has no idea how to manage and cannot work with people, they default to barking orders and scaring everyone into compliance. It is the classic bully move, and somehow it is exactly the behavior that keeps getting praised and rewarded here. The ones who build people up get ignored, and the ones who tear people down keep climbing. Completely illogical.

Despite all the bullying from team leaders to reach targets be assured theres no chance of being fired for not meeting them,so relax who cares about a negative review your going to get for something else anyway.

This place checks all the boxes for toxic workplace.

Negative communication: Excessive gossip, rumors, and backstabbing are common.

Poor leadership: This can include micromanagement, favoritism, lack of transparency, and fear-based leadership. (Actually seen a an executive belittle and humiliate someone on a zoom call. Totally lacking in empathy. I thought… couldn’t you do it in private? Why try to make an example in front of others so they are afraid to speak up?)

Unhealthy work habits: Lack of work-life balance, excessive workload, and unrealistic expectations. (Overheard EMS jokingly say that people here have heart attacks on the job here and refused go get medical treatment because of the competitive environment.)

Psychological unsafety: Employees may feel punished, humiliated, or rejected for speaking up, leading to a culture of fear. (I spoke up once during a meeting. An executive didn’t like me disclosing fact and accused me of hiding information. Instead of taking it up with me, the person went to my boss and a level up to complain.)

Conflict and disrespect: Bullying, harassment, and a general lack of trust are prevalent. (I lost the number of times I was bullied. HR does nothing about it. They exist to protect the company, not you.)

High turnover: A high rate of employees leaving the company. It’s necessary because they need the turnover to feed the pipeline of new victims.

My boss has been bullying me. Gave me tasks that can’t be done. They fired me with cause today. No severance.

Am software engineer.

there isnt any fairness here.

lower managers are incompetent and self serving.

divisional, office, and regional folks back them... barely less incompetent, and they double down on bad calls. period...

the same troublemakers get protected all the time - that's the culture.

ive watched awful managers, bullies and bad at the job, stick around for years.

nothing changes, just more of the same.

this place is a lost cause.

So bad that you get written up for an isolated incident that makes you question your ethics look to AI for answers. Result your manager is a bully! And, HR comment “subjective” they can write whatever they want.

What you’re describing isn’t just frustrating; it’s an example of poor management practice that can really erode morale and trust.

You’re doing something brave and professional by standing up for yourself without being disrespectful. That balance takes strength.

Doomed if you’re strong!

I have be with Macy’s over 20 years. My people leader towards me has an attitude towards me by saying I am not pulling my weight . Thats she has the same people doing everything. I working on merchandise. I also do the signing and markdowns on my floor. She wants her girls in my position. I work in ready to wear. They is no one in my store I would trust to say anything.

Worst experince of my life. nothing but a bunch of false promises and liars. Former and cutrent people there pick on people with disabilities.

He is fairly new (no more than 4 months at his position) and instead of coaching his employees, he often criticizes their intelligence. It can be humiliating at times for my coworkers. Should I report it to HR or speak to my supervisor directly? I don't want stir up trouble and I don't want there to be backlash on my end.

Hey ya T. Rowe fam,

Honest question - why is it that if you're a moderately senior person on the Distribution/Sales side of the business you get a golden parachute (I'm assuming) while so many others just get the boot unexpectedly? Globally it looks like a few of these sales people "retire" or "leave to pursue other opportunities". At the company a lot of the sales people seem to not win much while lose a lot of clients and business. Like a few seem to have come from less well known competitors in the industry and didn't have any demonstrable track record. There's also some that have a track record of bullying. It seems on the investment side of the business there are a lot of well educated, high performing people. The same can't be said for the sales people. The ones that don't get a golden handshake just seem to keep their job and hang on. I chat with some of them and a few are good operators but they're the minority. Honestly, why are the salespeople here rewarded for doing nothing, or even destroying value in some cases.

I am so tired of the bully culture.

It’s no longer a job, it’s survival mode every single day. Layoffs keep rolling in like clockwork and management counts on everyone being too scared to fight back - and they're right! Everybody stays quiet and the bullying and power trips just keep getting worse. I’ve never seen morale this wrecked or people this scared to breathe wrong at work.

Oh right, because there aren’t that many different options out there. They’ve cornered us into putting up with absurd levels of bullying, pressure, overtime, and exhaustion, while the only payoff is the chance we might get to keep our jobs. Just might. This is a sc--wed-up system, and State Farm has turned it into an art form.