People Are Anonymously Revealing Secrets From Their Jobs That They Aren’t Supposed To Share (30 Answers)

It’s understandable for companies to desire a certain level of privacy, but this day in age, when we have unlimited access to the internet, it might be more beneficial for businesses to be transparent. Former employees have more resources than ever before to call out companies and spill secrets, especially if they are bitter about the way they left a job. 

But it’s in our nature to keep secrets and to be curious about the secrets others are holding. Psychologist Michael Slepian broke down the hidden world of secrets in a piece for the American Psychological Association and revealed that there are 38 common categories of secrets people keep, “ranging from infidelity and illegal behavior to pregnancy and planned surprises for others”. “We all keep the same kinds of secrets,” he said. “About 97% of people have a secret in at least one of those categories, and the average person is currently keeping secrets in 13 of those categories.”

Slepian went on to explain that, although we all do it, keeping secrets can be a burden. “It’s not how much you hide a secret that’s harmful, but how often you find yourself thinking about it,” he says. Apparently secrets that we feel shameful about are the ones we tend to dwell on the most. Slepian then makes an important distinction between shame and guilt. “Guilt is more adaptive. When you feel guilty, you can make amends or decide to do something differently next time,” he explains. “Shame is more about feeling like a bad person. It can make you feel helpless or powerless.”

Having someone to confide in can help lessen the weight of a secret, Slepian notes. The conflict of wanting to protect ourselves while simultaneously wanting the weight off our chests is what can cause inner turmoil. But according to a study Slepian conducted with online participants, “Confiding a secret predicted improved well-being, both because the participant received social support and because the act of revealing the secret seemed to minimize the amount of time the person spent thinking about it.”

Aside from taking a load off our shoulders, sharing secrets can also strengthen our relationships. Postdoctoral researcher Sarah Ward mentions that, “Sharing secrets is often a way to build trust or closeness. Knowing which people tend to share can help to identify who is likely to build close relationships, and who might be missing opportunities to foster closeness and trust.” She went on to note that people who are particularly polite tend to be less willing to share secrets, but this can be a hindrance for them. Ward mentions that these people “might be missing out on an opportunity to get comfort or relief from other people, which could alleviate their negative emotions”.

When it comes to company secrets, they often seem to be locked up in a vault. But with social media, employees can now expose employers for keeping toxic behavior and practices behind closed doors. Throughout the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years, many companies have been called out for racist practices, including Tesla and Amazon.

Earlier this year, former employees of a Tesla plant in California filed the largest racial discrimination suit the state has ever seen. The lawsuit, which is on behalf of 4,000 former employees, details a horrifying environment where Black workers were constantly called slurs, placed in a corner of the factory that was referred to as “the plantation” and repeatedly subjected to unsafe working conditions. The employees shared that after informing the company and complaining about racist treatment, their concerns were brushed under the rug. 

Amazon has also come under fire in recent years for fostering a culture that's less welcoming for Black employees. Recode published a piece in 2021 dissecting some of Amazon's issues to make the public more aware of what's happening within the company. Interviews with former employees and diversity managers frequently reported that Black Amazon employees are "promoted less frequently and rated more harshly than non-Black peers". In 2018, only 14.5% of Black employees received a "top-tier" rating for their work at Amazon, compared to 21.8% of white employees.

A current Amazon diversity manager even told Recode, "We struggle to bring [Black] folks in because there’s not a whole lot of desire, in my opinion, to go outside of our normal practices. And then when they do get here, it’s harder to get promoted, harder to get top-tier rated, and easier to get lowest-tier. All those things combined make it so folks don’t wanna stay. And folks will leave Amazon and go take on more senior roles elsewhere.” While that quote was followed up by Amazon spokesperson Jaci Anderson disagreeing that it was representative of the company and providing a more politically correct statement, that diversity manager's quote still speaks for at least one person's opinion.

Contrary to what they might believe, increasing transparency might even be beneficial for companies. (Assuming they’re not doing anything sketchy or illegal…) Michael Weinhouse, a Forbes Councils member, reports that being upfront with clients and customers actually sets businesses up for success. It can also increase companies’ efficiency. “For example, we give our clients access to a reporting dashboard that allows them to see exactly what we’re doing for them. As a result, we don’t waste time shaping and packaging our results to look better than they actually are. Similarly, because we set realistic expectations with customers from the start, we don’t need to spend time making excuses for why we weren’t able to achieve unrealistic goals.” 

Lastly, Weinhouse notes that honesty builds trust with customers. He mentions how social media and review sites make it harder for companies to conceal secrets, so they might as well own their truths. “Every company has a choice to make. Do you put on a show and hope the facts about your business don’t come out? Or do you own those facts and put them to work for both you and your customers?”

Some companies, however, are notorious for concealing great amounts of information from the public, and act swiftly to punish any employees who might compromise their secrecy. Silicon Valley’s tech giants are great examples of such companies, including Facebook and Google. In a piece by the Guardian examining this topic, former employees of Google and Facebook divulged some of the frightening reactions the companies have to any hint of disloyalty.

One former Facebook employee described an interrogation he received after leaking some inside information to a journalist. There was no need for the questioning, however, because the “rat-catching team” had records of the screenshots, links he had clicked or hovered over, and access to the chats between him and the journalist even before he had started working there. “It’s horrifying how much they know,” he told the Guardian. “You go into Facebook and it has this warm, fuzzy feeling of ‘we’re changing the world’ and ‘we care about things’. But you get on their bad side and all of a sudden you are face to face with Mark Zuckerberg’s secret police.”

“When you first get to Facebook you are shocked at the level of transparency. You are trusted with a lot of stuff you don’t need access to,” said the former Facebook employee. “The counterbalance to giving you this huge trusting environment is if anyone steps out of line, they’ll squash you like a bug.”

Former employees also mentioned a meeting in 2015 where Zuckerberg addressed a leak about Facebook’s new messaging assistant. “We’re going to find the leaker, and we’re going to fire them,” the CEO told employees. A week later, the mole had been caught and fired, and employees in the meeting celebrated.