More frequent layoffs and a tougher economy have left their toll on the nation’s workers, leading to 12.4 million people looking for a new job each month. StandOut CV’s latest research has looked at what the worst areas are for employees, analyzing complaints of toxic bosses and bad working conditions.
Analyzing over 136,000 Glassdoor employee reviews from some of the largest public and private employers across America, StandOut CV has discovered which cities complain about their bosses and work environment the most, and what specifically is making workers unhappy.
24 of the most common workplace complaints were anaylzed by how often they appeared in employee reviews across the 50 biggest (by population) cities in the country.
The U.S. cities with the worst bosses
Nashville, TN, has the most complained about employers in America, with 380 complaints per 1,000 employee reviews. It was closely followed by Sacramento, CA with 366 complaints for every 1,000 employee reviews, and San Antonio, TX with 364 per 1,000 reviews.
The table below reveals the top 10 cities in the country ranked by the number of employee complaints present in every 1,000 reviews left on Glassdoor.
| Rank | City | State | Complaints Per 1,000 Employee Reviews |
| 1 | Nashville | Tennessee | 380 |
| 2 | Sacramento | California | 366 |
| 3 | San Antonio | Texas | 364 |
| 4 | San Diego | California | 363 |
| 5 | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | 353 |
| 6 | Denver | Colorado | 353 |
| 7 | Raleigh | North Carolina | 352 |
| 8 | Houston | Texas | 349 |
| 9 | Indianapolis | Indiana | 349 |
| 10 | Louisville | Kentucky | 347 |
The most common complaints in America in the workplace
Looking at the data further, StandOut CV has uncovered what are the most complained about areas of work judged by the number of times they appeared in this dataset of employee reviews.
| Rank | Complaints | Number of mentions in reviews |
| 1 | Management | 20,357 |
| 2 | Long hours | 3,993 |
| 3 | Stressful environment | 3,727 |
| 4 | Rude coworkers/management | 3,630 |
| 5 | Low pay | 1,764 |
| 6 | Overworked | 1,088 |
| 7 | Toxic workplace | 698 |
| 8 | Nepotism | 607 |
| 9 | Micromanagement | 589 |
| 10 | Office politics | 499 |
While there may be over 20,000 mentions of bad management nationally across these employee reviews, StandOut CV also wanted to know which city raises concerns like this the most.
U.S cities that mention complaints the most
Perhaps unsurprisingly due to their overall ranking, Nashville workers complained about management the most with 208 mentions per 1,000 reviews, while fellow state city Memphis had the highest number of complaints about long hours (55 per 1,000 reviews).
| Employee Complaint | City That Mentions the Most | Complaints Per 1,000 Reviews in City |
| Management | Nashville | 208 |
| Long hours | Memphis | 55 |
| Stressful environment | San Diego | 41 |
| Rude colleagues | Los Angeles | 40 |
| Low pay | Oakland | 51 |
| Overworked | San Diego | 15 |
| Toxic workplace | Seattle | 14 |
| Nepotism | Oakland | 18 |
| Micromanagement | Aurora | 11 |
| Office politics | San JoseVirginia Beach | 8 |
What can employees do about bad bosses?
Once you have left the business, you can post a review anonymously on places like Glassdoor, to talk about your experiences.
If you work for a small company it could be very obvious who wrote what and this could lead to them providing you with a bad reference. Therefore, consider the timing of when you post a review or if you want to post one at all.
As for complaining elsewhere online without anonymity, including social media, we would recommend against it.
Tips for cleaning social media when applying for jobs
- Use the advanced search feature in Twitter to search for any mentions of things you don’t want employers to see and be careful when posting on new social media platforms like Threads by Instagram.
- Review all photos and videos posted for any drugs, alcohol, swearing, or other things that could show you in a negative light.
- Set all your social media accounts to private where you have to approve new followers and connections.
It’s a good idea to Google yourself and see what comes up. If there is anything you’re not happy with, you can either delete it yourself or request it to be removed with the website.
Andrew Fennell, Founder of StandOut CVcomments:
“As an employee, you should be careful about what you share online about your workplace. Employers can, and do, easily find the information you share which could end in disciplinary action or lead to you getting a negative reference when you move on.
If you are looking to raise a complaint at work about your manager, go to HR, or a more senior member of staff to raise your concerns, this way the business can assess how best to support you both to overcome the issues you may be having.”
