Yelling, screaming, insults and threats — verbal harassment isn’t talked about at nearly the level of sexual harassment, but it’s a problem in workplaces across the country. In honor of National Bullying Prevention Month, Comparably asked more than 9,000 of its users to answer the following question: “Have you been verbally abused or severely harassed (in a non-sexual way) by your boss at your current job?”
The results were shocking:
1 in 4 women say they have been verbally abused at work (25%). Women in communications, design and engineering had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (37%, 33% and 33% respectively). Women in HR had the lowest rates (11%).
1 in 5 men say they have been verbally abused at work (21%). Looking closer, men in communications, business development, marketing and customer support had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (37%, 33%, 33% and 33% respectively). Men in HR had the lowest rates (13%).
African Americans report the highest rates of being verbally abused. African Americans have the highest rate of saying they’ve been abused at work (33%). Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have the lowest (28%).
From a department perspective: People in communications and design had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (37% and 32%, respectively). People in HR had the lowest (22%).
Verbal abuse most inflicted on the young. People aged 18 to 25 had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (32%). People in their 40s and 50s had the lowest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused at work (20%-22% said yes).
Results by location: People in Ft. Lauderdale had the highest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused (39%); people in San Diego had the lowest rates of saying they’ve been verbally abused (13%).
The results are as of Oct. 17 and are derived from data from 9,204 respondents.
