RTÉ Brainstorm – How workplace bullying costs Ireland €239 million every year

Whitaker Institute member Dr John Cullinan, of the Population and Migration cluster, has co-authored a new article for RTÉ Brainstorm with Dr Margaret Hodgins. The article looks at the results from their recent study on the costs of workplace bullying.

How workplace bullying costs Ireland €239 million every year

"Data we examined from before the pandemic shows similar bullying prevalence rates amongst those working and not working from home"

“Data we examined from before the pandemic shows similar bullying prevalence rates amongst those working and not working from home”

Analysis: new research finds that one in 10 employees in Ireland have experience of being bullied and the problem is unlikely to go away with remote working

By John Cullinan and Margaret Hodgins, NUI Galway 

Workplace bullying is both widespread and damaging. It occurs when there is repeated and systematic aggressive behaviour by one or more persons towards another, and takes place in all types of work environments, from offices to shops to building sites. Sometimes, the bullying within an organisation is visible, but often what is observed only represents the tip of the iceberg. Worryingly, research shows that almost one-in-ten employees in Ireland have recent experience of being bullied.

At a macro level, there are significant costs to the economy from bullying in the form of lost productivity, which can occur when those who experience bullying end up taking extra time off work as a result. In a recent study we found that a total of 1.7 million work days are lost in Ireland each year because of bullying, at a cost to the economy of almost a quarter of a billion euros per annum. Continue reading…