Bored Panda reached out to Sophia Benoit, writer, comedian, and the author of the book “Well, This Is Exhausting.” Sophia’s tweet “when a job listing says the words 'fast-paced environment' that means toxic” amassed 342.6k likes and sparked a much-needed discussion on identifying and working in a toxic workplace environment.
Sophia believes that “almost all workplaces, at least in the system we currently have in the US, have at the bare minimum points of toxicity. I think it’s part and parcel of our poor relationship to work.”
Moreover, “Workers are asked to put up with a lot that they should not have to endure, from things that seem 'small,' like someone commenting on your appearance, to big things like labor violations.” So in that sense, Sophia confirmed that she has worked in toxic work environments.
According to Sophia, a toxic workplace can be defined as “Any company that exploits workers, any environment that sees the lives of workers as there to serve the company; any company that allows for or excuses abuse or mistreatment. Any company that underpays or undervalues their workers.”
The term also applies to “Companies that get around labor laws, that try to give you as little benefits as possible. Companies that allow people higher up in the company to get away with shit, who enable them. Companies who don’t actively work against the sexism, racism, ableism, classism, and other bigotry baked into our society. That’s all toxic.”
When asked what the "fast-paced environment" in the job listing actually signals, Sophia said that it means the company cares most about production. “Time is money to them; YOUR time—literally your life is money for them. That is a resource. And many, many, many companies measure their success on productivity.”
Sophia continued: “The route to that, they imagine, is an environment where they expect workers to put in 16-hour days or to always be on the clock or to answer emails within minutes or to be willing to be yelled at or to never sit down.”
The book author could have never guessed her tweet would go so viral, as she said she tweets “279 dumb things a day and I usually mute the tweet after I tweet it so I don’t keep checking my phone,” but she does see why so many people recognized something relevant in it. “We’re all in capitalism hell,” Sophia concluded.
A toxic workplace environment is something you’d never recommend to anyone. No matter what exactly causes it, there’s no secret it’s hazardous to our physical and mental health, and puts a stop to any professional growth you can think of.
Sometimes it’s the boss, the other times it’s colleagues, sometimes it’s the whole company culture or its attitude towards you as a worker. In any case, if you feel like you're being pressured, neglected, or abused in any shape or form, you should run away as far as you can.
But the best way to tackle workplace toxicity is not to get into it in the first place. So whenever you’re in the interview or simply see a job listing, the little red flags have to be taken seriously. First, it’s peculiar buzzwords and mission statements that reveal how companies talk about themselves in a coded way.
For example, Amazon’s common phrases included “fast-paced environment” and “maniacal,” while Slack’s included “lasting relationships'' and “care deeply.” So you can get the vibe where corporate culture is more employee-friendly.
Also, watch out for the benefits that come as free stuff. Free food or video games are a few examples, but essentially, they are a trap that doesn’t give you much to begin with. If companies did care about their workers, they’d pay enough so that they could easily buy their own drinks and games.
