Desk Rage

by Gerald L. Lacambra

Definition: Many people hate their jobs. They may hate their co-workers, employers, or what they do. Some workers take things to the point of desk rage: yelling, cursing, doing damage to property, etc.

"A study of 775 employees conducted at the University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler Business School showed that 12% of workers had quit their jobs to avoid nasty people at work, and 45% are thinking about doing so. In addition, more than half of workers lost time worrying about rude people in the office," says Denise Mann in the January 19, 2001 WebMD Medical News. Rudeness and stress in the workplace is being more and more commonplace. U.S. companies have hired consultants to help ease tensions in the workplace. Such consultants say pressure from "corporate downsizing; pressure to produce more quickly with fewer resources; and the mushrooming population, which results in less space to work in, drive in, and play in" all contribute to desk rage.

By all accounts, workplace stress is at an all-time high, and the number of violent workplace incidents has tripled since 1989. While incidents such as December's deadly shooting spree at an Internet consulting firm near Boston are the exception, not the rule, all across America workers are yelling, cursing, slamming down phones, and damaging office supplies as they struggle with what psychologists call 'desk rage.'

Giovinella Gonthier, a Chicago etiquette consultant, says "Usually, there are one or two people causing unhappiness in a corporate environment." Gonthier labels this person or persons "the rudester." Adding to the desk rage tension, the rudester can have a ripple effect.

But even one rudester can cause a ripple effect, she says. "If the CEO is yelling and screaming at his executive assistant, then his executive assistant will start screaming and yelling at other co-workers," she says.