Shocking reason millions of Aussies hate their boss

A woman has detailed the crazy demands of her “narcissist” manager – and she’s not alone, with millions fed up with their nightmare bosses.

Close to 3.5 million Aussies hate their boss and many who have spent months working from home are dreading having to interact with them when they return to the office, research has found.

It also revealed that more than half of workers feel their tolerance for bad behaviour, rudeness, work politics and drama has reduced compared to before the Covid-19 pandemic, the survey from the Australian College of Applied Professions (ACAP) showed.

Caroline Foster* is one of those Aussies who can’t stand her boss, describing him as a “narcissist” who doesn’t care about anyone but himself.

The mum joined her broadcasting company employer over a year ago as a creative account director and said work has been “hell” from the beginning, but she has felt trapped due to the pandemic.

She received no training when she started and while her boss initially came across as charming, his behaviour has become aggressive, hypercritical and workload expectations are ridiculous.

“He never takes responsibility just palms things off … and I’m doing all these massive extra jobs that should sit within his remit, but I’m working until 11pm every night and I’m thinking surely something has to give here,” she told news.com.au.

“I’m a mum, so I finish to pick him up from childcare and after dinner I work from 6pm for five hours and I wake up at 6am as I can’t turn off. Because I’m not allowed to turn Teams off, if he can’t contact you on Teams, he calls you on your mobile phone incessantly and is pinging you all the time.”

Caroline can’t switch off her Teams ever. Picture: Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Despite having worked in the industry for 15 years, Ms Foster has to run all her work past her boss and she never knows how he is going to react describing the environment as “extremely stressful”.

“If it’s just me in the office my work is perfect, but if others come in he will tell me in front of them that he needs relook at it and he tries to be a showman in front of others and it’s confusing, because prior to that he had okayed everything,” she said.

“It’s very unnerving and I’m always on edge as I don’t what he is going to say depending on who’s there.”

In her 30s, Ms Foster said its also impossible to have any one-on-one time with her boss because his diary is constantly blocked out and he just disappears for lengthy periods with no word of where he is. Then there is the language.

“Every second word is f**k, all I hear is f**k, and I don’t know what he said in terms of work, but if I said it I would get in trouble,” she noted.

Once she approached HR about an issue and he told her to drop it as “he didn’t have the time to go through the back and forth”.

“He gets really aggressive if you say I’m having an issue I need to go to HR, it’s just a horrible cycle,” she added.

She’s no longer able to work from home in the new year. Picture: Sincerely Media on Unsplash

Despite company policy dictating people can continue to work from home in 2022, Ms Foster said he has insisted his team must be in the office five days a week in the New Year, however he will continue to remote work.

“There is no way I’m going back to work five days while he is working from home, it’s ridiculous … It’s not fair and its all coming from him. HR said we can work from home but he has said there are expectations we are there to present a unified team,” she said.

She is currently on the hunt for a new job and said she “can’t wait to see his face” when she quits.

Shockingly, the ACAP research revealed that one in two Aussie workers, who have been working from home in some capacity during the Covid-19 pandemic hold concerns about having to interact physically with their boss when they return to the workplace.

There concerns included being micro managed by their manager, a lack empathy about life outside of work and disregard for work-life balance

It’s bad news for bosses that don’t care though with two in three Aussies admitting they would avoid work, take longer or put in less effort for a boss, manager or colleague who was rude, demanding or didn’t show appreciation.

People won’t go the extra mile for a bad boss. Picture: Christina at wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

The equivalent of 7.7 million Aussies feel their manager struggles with soft skills in particular such as empathy, effective communication, active listening, flexibility and emotional intelligence, with Gen Z and Millennials the most worried.

George Garrop, Australian College of Applied Professions CEO, said employee burnout, mental health struggles, isolation and financial worries have taken a toll on workplaces and on relationships between workers and their managers in particular.

The Great Realignment of workers’ expectations is natural given that many people have searched for new meaning in a changed world, he added.

“Yet, it is interesting to see that younger generations in particular are expecting more from their workplaces, especially in terms of the people skills they want their managers and leaders to have. The adage ‘people leave managers, not companies’ is ringing truer than ever,” he warned.

A solid pay-packet, job security and career progression may no longer be enough to keep staff. Picture: Christina at wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

He added the findings suggest that managers and leaders with strong people skills will be increasingly important for organisations looking to attract and retain the best emerging talent, and to get the best out of staff.

“Traditional workplace cultures and management practices that have emphasised technical skills – without giving due weight to people skills – are no longer meeting the expectations of workers from younger generations – especially Millennials and Gen Z,” he noted.

“This survey tells us that younger workers are seeking employers that lead with empathy, emotional intelligence and positive human relationships. They want to feel good, be invested in and genuinely cared for – a solid pay-packet, job security and career progression may no longer be enough.”

*Name has been changed