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iHire Investigates Toxic Workplaces in New Research Report

HR Tech Outlook | Wednesday, February 05, 2025

Survey shows 3 out of 4 employees have experienced a toxic workplace; poor leadership and communication issues cited as top toxicity drivers

Frederick, Maryland – iHire today published its 2025 Toxic Workplace Trends Report, offering insights into the state of work cultures across America. Sharing the results of a survey of 2,285 U.S. workers and employers, iHire’s research suggests 74.9% of employees have worked for an employer with a toxic workplace, and 53.7% have quit a job because of a negative work environment. The full report is available at www.iHire.com/ToxicWorkplaceReport.

 Additional key themes and findings from iHire’s survey include the following:

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 Poor leadership/management is the number one driver of workplace toxicity, suggesting strong company cultures start at the top.

● Of the 74.9% of employees who had experienced a toxic workplace, 78.7% said poor leadership or management was to blame.

● When asked why they believed their company’s leadership contributed to workplace toxicity, 71.9% of respondents said management showed a lack of accountability, 65.6% noted favoritism or biased treatment of employees, and 52.2% witnessed unethical behaviors or practices.

 Employers and employees’ perceptions of their work environments differ, with employers holding a brighter viewpoint.

● 82.7% of employers rated their organization’s work environment “very positive” or “somewhat positive,” while less than half (45.0%) of employees said the same about their current or most recent job’s atmosphere (although respondents did not necessarily work for the same companies).

● Despite employees’ grievances with leadership, 75.8% of employers rated relationships between employees and managers at their company “excellent” or “good.” In addition, 56.8% of employers rated employee morale “very high” or “high.”

 Clear, transparent, and consistent communication is the most critical element for creating a positive work environment, according to employees.

● 81.4% of employees believe clear communication from leadership/management helps ensure a positive workplace – more so than staff recognition/appreciation (70.4%) and strong work/life balances (69.0%).

● 69.8% of workers who had experienced a toxic environment reported poor communication across the organization. Of that cohort, 88.5% encountered mixed or inconsistent messages from leadership, and 64.6% observed a lack of transparency.

Stress is a serious side effect of a toxic work culture.

● 60.4% of employees said they had experienced stress-related health issues due to workplace conditions, and high stress levels/burnout was the fourth most cited characteristic of a toxic environment.

● Of the 65.1% of employees whose toxic workplace comprised high stress levels/burnout, 71.9% said stress was due to unmanageable workloads, and 67.5% reported a lack of support for a healthy work/life balance.

 Employers are gathering employee feedback but are not necessarily using it to improve their work cultures.

● 79.2% of employers said they regularly gather employee feedback on how to improve their workplaces, relying most on 1:1 meetings (73.9%), informal conversations (64.9%), and anonymous surveys (57.4%) to solicit input.

● However, just 53.2% of employers said they continuously use employee feedback to foster a positive work environment.

 “Our study showed that three out of four people have worked or are currently working in a toxic workplace, yet a large proportion of employers believe their organizations are fostering a positive environment,” said Steve Flook, iHire’s President and CEO. “To ensure a strong culture conducive to recruiting and retaining top talent, employers must truly listen to their associates and act on their feedback. Communicating transparently, holding leadership accountable, recognizing and appreciating staff, and implementing effective conflict resolution strategies are just a few ways to nurture an inclusive, engaging, and core values-driven workplace.”

Read iHire’s Toxic Workplace Trends Report here: www.iHire.com/ToxicWorkplaceReport.

 Research Methodology

1,781 workers and 504 employers across 57 industries in the U.S. responded to iHire’s Toxic Workplaces Survey in December 2024 via the Qualtrics XM platform. Respondents came from iHire’s job seeker and employer databases. All decimal points are rounded to the nearest tenth. For many questions, multiple answers could be selected, so percentages add up to a sum greater than 100%. In some instances, survey questions were skipped by an individual respondent.

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