How Every Workplace Became 'Toxic'

When 'toxicity' in the workplace has grown to mean so much, it's also come to mean so little. Plus, what is 'effective altruism'?

Why 'toxic' has lost its meaning

At nearly every company, there's an employee who thinks their workplace is 'toxic'. The term has become a catch-all to describe all sorts of work issues: major problems, such as unethical, abusive, discriminatory and even illegal behaviours; but also everyday issues, like cultures of long hours and burnout, or simple grievances with standard workplace policies.

Recent high profile reports of workplace toxicity have underscored the murky, imprecise definition of the word.

In August,?pop star Lizzo was named in a lawsuit ?accusing her of creating a hostile work environment through "sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault and false imprisonment". In September, Rolling Stone described the American late-night talk show The Tonight Show as a "toxic workplace", following complaints from staffers of a high pressure atmosphere, erratic behaviour of host Jimmy Fallon and bullying from senior leadership.

When 'toxicity' has swelled to mean so much, it subsequently has come to mean so little, too. Experts say the overuse and misattribution of the word can minimise or even mask real workplace issues. And that can create a whole new set of problems.??

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The acute suicide crisis among veterinarians

Last summer, a 36-year-old veterinarian named Andrea Kelly stopped by a Québec horse stable to check on a pair of one-month-old foals, and had a friendly visit with the farm's staff. Three days later, she was dead. Kelly's death by suicide made headlines in Canada and elsewhere, sparking stories about the alarming mental health crisis in the veterinary community.

Kelly's death was well-publicised, and also part of a grim pattern.

In 2021, 33-year-old Australian vet Sophie Putland died by suicide in Melbourne. Another Melbourne-based vet, Flynn Hargreaves, was just 27 when he took his life in 2018. In 2014, a Bronx, New York, veterinarian named Shirley Koshi died of an apparent suicide after months of being harassed and bullied by a pet owner. Later that same year, Sophia Yin, a pioneering animal behaviourist and renowned expert in the veterinary community, died by suicide at 48.

Between 1979 and 2015, according to data from the US CDC National Center for Health Statistics, published in 2019, nearly 400 veterinarians died by suicide. The results showed male veterinarians are twice as likely and female veterinarians are close to four times as likely than the general population to die by suicide. Additionally, a study funded by pet food brand Royal Canin showed nearly 70% of veterinarians have had a colleague or peer die by suicide, and close to 60% have experienced work-related stress, anxiety or depression so severe it required professional help.

Researchers point to myriad causes fuelling the stark numbers around veterinarians' mental health crises. Financial factors play a part, as do the pressures and long hours of the job, expectations of pet owners and exposure to trauma and frequent euthanasia.

But the situation isn't hopeless: as the conversation around veterinarians' mental health gains traction, many practices have begun offering support and resources to their staff. Several have partnered with major suicide-prevention groups to try to make sure veterinary professionals and their colleagues know how to recognise warning signs before it's too late.?

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What is 'effective altruism'?

All eyes are on a courtroom in New York City, where former cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is currently on trial for allegedly running an $8bn financial fraud following the November 2022 collapse of his crypto exchange. Now snared in controversy, at its peak in early 2022, FTX was worth $32bn (￡26.3bn). Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried, 31, used customer deposits to prop up his own risky investments in his hedge fund, Alameda Research, as well as fund a lavish lifestyle.

But Bankman-Fried has said his goal wasn't to enrich his own life through massive earnings – rather he wanted to do enormous good for billions of people. From his first job as a quantitative trader, to the founding of his crypto empire, Bankman-Fried has touted the benefits of the effective altruism movement. In short, he claimed he wanted to make as much money as possible so he could give it away and change the world for the better.

"Effective altruism is a philosophy that aims to do as much good as possible," explains?Brian Berkey, associate professor of legal studies and business ethics at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, US. "It's how to help ensure people's time and resources are spent well in making the world a better place. Through empirical evidence, individuals can make more informed decisions over which charitable causes to support."

Effective altruism (EA) looks great on paper – but many experts say the philosophy can ignore the nuances of human behaviour. In some ways, they say Bankman-Fried is the ultimate cautionary tale of how the lofty goal to do good can quickly go bad.

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Thanks for reading. See you next week.

– Meredith Turits, Editor, BBC Worklife