What employees hate

It’s hard to improve the work environment when you don’t know what’s driving your employees nuts. Enter a new workforce survey that looks to set the record straight on why some employees hate their jobs and co-workers. 

The survey was conducted by animal welfare organization The Brooke in commemoration of World Donkey Week. In asking 2,000 workers what they hate most about their jobs and colleagues, The Brook was hoping to draw attention to the fact that no matter what’s wrong in the workplaces of today, it’s nothing compared to what working donkeys, horses and mules have to go through daily.

Only U.K. office workers were polled but, as you can imagine, there’s a lot of correlation between how they feel and how U.S. workers feel. There are, however, a handful of complaints that are truly Brit-specific.

Top 50 office complaints:

  1. Being copied in to emails that aren’t relevant to me
  2. The phone ringing at 4:59 p.m.
  3. Computer crashing
  4. Air conditioning making the office too cold
  5. The printer breaking down
  6. Colleagues that smell
  7. Loud telephone voices
  8. People chatting too much
  9. People not cleaning the microwave after use
  10. People sniffing
  11. People reading emails over your shoulder
  12. People not replacing empty toilet paper rolls
  13. Co-workers not saying thanks when you hold the door open for them
  14. People with bad breath
  15. Anyone that says “blue sky thinking”
  16. Inconsiderate parking
  17. Co-workers’ smelly lunches
  18. Uncomfortable chairs
  19. Those that book school holidays off really far in advance
  20. Your boss catching you on Facebook for one minute when you have been crazy busy all day
  21. Your company blocking you from certain websites
  22. People in the car park blocking you in
  23. The company providing cheap teabags
  24. Colleagues moaning about personal life
  25. Co-workers who constantly boast about their children
  26. Diet bores who constantly talk about their food
  27. Colleagues that are younger than you telling you what to do
  28. People stealing your lunch out of the fridge
  29. Those that leave empty wrappers in the tin of sweets
  30. Incessant birthday cake and sweet treats
  31. The vending machine stealing your money
  32. Colleagues not making tea
  33. Colleagues using work phones to speak with a spouse
  34. Someone using your mug
  35. No one refilling the stapler
  36. Co-workers who constantly text at their desk
  37. Waiting for the microwave
  38. Co-workers who leave at 5:00 p.m. on the dot
  39. Colleagues leaving the toilet seat up
  40. The elevator breaking down
  41. Not enough electrical outlets
  42. Fire alarm going off when you’re on the phone
  43. Colleagues describing their dreams in exact detail when they come in
  44. Colleagues singing
  45. People who chew pens
  46. Having to stretch over desks to answer a colleague’s phone
  47. Clients turning up early for meetings
  48. People not chatting enough
  49. People forever stealing your favorite pen, and
  50. The water cooler being too far away.

Top 20 complaints about co-workers:

  1. Blames everyone for mistakes
  2. Come in late and go early
  3. Never admit being wrong
  4. Makes a drama out of everything
  5. Sucks up to the boss
  6. Take credit for others’ work
  7. Make personal calls
  8. Talk bad about everyone behind their back
  9. Never make a tea round
  10. Hand over complicated work
  11. Never listens when you talk to them
  12. Takes time off sick with minor ailments
  13. Whistle all day
  14. Sing all day
  15. Has poor personal hygiene
  16. Have earphones plugged in all day
  17. Never chip in for birthday presents
  18. Get drunk at office parties
  19. Books up all the school holidays first, and
  20. Always calls you when you are on holiday.

‘We don’t have it that bad’

The Brook, on its website, said while “We can all relate to the grumblings on this list” … “These survey results show that in the grand scheme of things, we don’t have it that bad.”

The Brook then pointed out the fact that donkeys and horses are slaving away, often in excessive heat, without the luxury of medical insurance or hourly tea (coffee, for those of us in the U.S.) breaks.

It went on to say: “We hope this study will encourage people to appreciate how fortunate they are in their day-to-day working lives and spare a thought for the hardworking animals around the world who don’t have a say.”

To coincide with the release of the survey results, The Brooke posted this animated video depicting what a job interview would be like for a donkey, if such a thing existed:

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