Workplace Bullying By The Numbers

An estimated 54 million Americans experience workplace bullying.
Let me say that again: 54 million people experience psychological torment from one or more of their co-workers that includes verbal abuse, threatening, intimidating and humiliating behaviors and direct sabotage. That amounts to 37% of the American workforce according to Gary and Ruth Namie of the Workplace Bullying Institute.
Here are some other numbers to consider:

• 54% of bullying occurs in front of a witness, but the witnesses rarely do anything to help.
• Men make up the majority of bullies (60%) and women make up the majority of targets (57%). However, women are far more likely to bully other women (71%), whereas men show a slight preference to bullying other men (54%) but it is more evenly split.
• 41% of targets quiet their jobs and 24% are fired as a result of bullying. The total turnover of employees as a result of this epidemic is estimated to be 28 million american workers.
• In 62% of the cases of workplace bullying being reported, the employer other does nothing or actually makes the problem worse for the target.
• Those who are bullied rarely fight back: 40% don’t fight back at all and 38% only go as far as to file an informal internal complaint. Only 3% go so far as to file lawsuits.

The first step to solving the problem is awareness. Most people who experience workplace bullying have no idea that such a think exists. In future posts, we’ll examine what individuals can do if they find themselves in the position of being bullied, and what employers can do to identify the phenomenon. But for this post, out goal is awareness regarding the depth of this problem.

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