How workplace bullying can lead to homelessness

There’s a stereotype that homelessness results from physical and mental disabilities. But experts say that most homeless people “have been thrust into homelessness by a life-altering event or series of events that were unexpected and unplanned for” (Homeaid.org).

According to Homeaid, those life-altering events or series of events include:

• Loss of loved ones
• Domestic violence
• Divorce and other family disputes
• Job loss

Experts believe that addressing these issues can help end homelessness in America.

A deeper look into job loss
Job loss often results from mistreatment. While some find themselves unemployed after firing from poor work performance or layoffs from cutting expenses, many are either forced out or quit from mistreatment. In fact, 66% of aggrieved employees quit to end the bullying says The Conference Board Review. (Even if employees don’t quit from bullying, depression and post traumatic stress disorder alone from bullying can send them on the streets, according to Homeaid.org.)

Let’s look at the number of people at-risk for homelessness due to job loss:

• Roughly one in three Americans will suffer from workplace bullying. That’s around 33% of the workforce.
• If 66% of those employees leave their jobs to end the bullying, then around 20% of all employees will likely leave their jobs to end bullying.
• Statista.com reports that 125.5 million people work full-time in the U.S.. So roughly 25 million are at-risk to leave their jobs from workplace bullying. That’s about the number of people who live in the entire state of Texas.

Sure, many of those employees leave for another job. But if the bullying is brutal enough, many employees are forced to choose between the lesser of two stresses: the toll on their health from bullying or living without an income. So many choose to leave rather than suffer the blow to their health, including depression, chronic anxiety, and even suicide contemplation.

With a steady income, those employees could likely manage paying for a car repair or illness. But when those who’ve been bullied out of work don’t have another job lined up or a strong support system and find themselves living in poverty or close to the poverty line, these once just annoying “everyday” life problems can put them out on the street.

And who knows how long taxpayers have to pay for services for targets of insecure bullies. According to one study, regaining employment at all and getting back to normal life doesn’t look promising. That means that getting off the streets or saving money to move out of assisted living in affordable housing to market rate housing doesn’t look hopeful either.

So who loses when a bully stays on payroll? Not just the target. And not just the business either. Taxpayers do when they’re left to fund services for some of the best employees who were simply in the path of insecure bosses. It’s not good for targets. It’s not good for businesses. And it’s not good for society.

Take Your Dignity Back
If you feel like you’re stuck in a big rut that’s destroying your life, learn how to reverse the damage. 

Right now, you wish you could just tell your bully at work to knock it off, report the problem to management, and show the bully how childish he or she’s behaving. At best, the bully’s sidetracking the goals of the organization. At worst, the bully’s threatening or maybe even destroying your life by abusing you: your health, your family, your career, your finances, and your happiness.

You know it’s not a personality conflict. You’re not too sensitive. You’re not thin-skinned. It’s downright abuse. You expected your work environment to support you to do the work you were hired to do. You expected to be treated with dignity and respect.

The organization doesn’t care. They think it’s in their best interest to ignore the problem — meaning you — and make you go away. When you speak up, you’re the problem. You’re treasonous. If you fight them, they’ll fight harder.

Meanwhile, you’re stressed out and angry, and it gets worse the longer the bullying goes on, making you an easier target for the bully. Your physical and mental health are depleted. You consider or take stress leave. 

Find out what workplace bullying is, why it happens, what's worked — and what hasn't worked — for hundreds of other workplace bullying targets, and how to start the path to healing in this comprehensive online course drawing from the greatest minds in workplace bullying.

Learn more about the online course.