Intimidation at work is not rare. It is routine. It is the eye roll in a meeting. It is the sigh when someone speaks. It is the exclusion from informal conversations. It is the sharp tone that leaves no paper trail. It is the reputation that gets quietly damaged.
Businessolver’s 2026 State of Workplace Empathy study surveyed more than 300 C-suite executives and 1,000 employees. 34% of executives and 33% of employees reported co-worker intimidation. Among executives in toxic organizations, that figure climbed to 73%.
40% of employees said their workplace is toxic, an 18-percentage-point increase year over year. 66% of employees would accept lower pay to work for a more empathetic employer. Among employees in toxic workplaces, that rises to 73%.
What Co-Worker Intimidation Actually Looks Like
Intimidation does not always look like aggression. It rarely leaves bruises. It rarely produces witnesses. It operates in the spaces between formal interactions where plausible deniability protects the person causing harm.
It is the colleague who interrupts every time you speak. It is the manager who sighs audibly when you ask a question. It is the team member who excludes you from informal conversations that determine outcomes. It is the person who subtly undermines your reputation with comments that sound like concern.
These behaviours accumulate. Each incident seems small. Each incident can be rationalised. Maybe they are stressed. Maybe I am too sensitive. Maybe it will get better. It does not get better. It compounds.
Why This Happens
Intimidation persists because it is not measured. Organisations track productivity, output, and engagement scores. They do not track how many employees feel intimidated by colleagues. They do not track how many dread interactions with certain people. They do not track the slow erosion of psychological safety.
In healthy organisations, intimidation stays contained. Leaders model respect. Colleagues call out bad behaviour. Consequences exist for those who cross lines. In toxic organisations, intimidation becomes the norm. It is how power is expressed. It is how status is maintained. It is how people learn to stay quiet.
The data confirms the pattern. In toxic organisations, 73% of executives report co-worker intimidation. The behaviour is not hidden. It is visible to the people at the top. They simply choose not to address it.
Why This Will Continue Without Intervention
Organisations measure what is easy to count. They measure what appears on dashboards. They measure what can be reported upward without discomfort. Intimidation is invisible to these systems. It happens in private. It leaves no record. It is denied when confronted. It is dismissed as personality conflict. It is tolerated because the intimidator delivers results.
The financial cost is real. Employees who feel intimidated disengage. They stop contributing ideas. They stop taking risks. They stop caring about outcomes beyond their narrow job description. They become the walking silent who attend meetings, nod at decisions, and wait for something better.
66% of employees would accept lower pay to work for a more empathetic employer. That is two thirds of the workforce willing to earn less for a workplace that treats them with basic respect. The demand for empathy is not a soft preference. It is a hard requirement.
How Moody At Work Resolves This Issue
Moody At Work helps organisations see the intimidation that formal systems miss. Through continuous engagement tracking, companies identify patterns of behaviour before they become embedded in culture. Anonymous feedback channels give employees voice without risking retaliation.
Recognition programs reinforce the behaviours that build healthy culture. Real time data enables leaders to measure what matters and act on what they learn.
The 34% who report co-worker intimidation are not asking for perfection. They are asking for intervention. They are asking for leaders who see the problem and address it. Moody At Work helps organisations deliver.
Source: Businessolver State of Workplace Empathy 2026