I spent years helping students and employees prepare for their careers. I've watched thousands of young professionals walk into their first jobs with the same thing: hope.

Then the stories started coming back.

A marketing graduate landed her dream role. Three months later, she quit. Why? Her manager screamed at her in front of clients. A talented developer took a pay cut just to escape a workplace drowning in favoritism. Another graduate developed anxiety so severe she couldn't sleep the night before work.

Isolated incidents? I wish.

80% of workers now say their workplace is toxic. One year ago, that number was 67%. Think about that for a second.

That's when it hit me. We were teaching students how to get jobs, but not how to recognize the ones that would break them.

The Gap Nobody Talks About

We teach students how to write resumes. How to ace interviews. How to negotiate salaries.

But what happens when their boss takes credit for their work?

What do they do when the company culture they were promised turns out to be fiction? When they're trapped between a job that's destroying their mental health and the fear of leaving without a backup plan?

Nobody teaches that part.

Here's the data and numbers don’t lie: Nearly 58.9% of workers would take a pay cut just to escape a toxic workplace. Over half have already quit a job because of toxicity.

This isn't about being soft.

This is survival.

What Toxic Actually Means

Toxic workplaces aren't just places where people complain. They follow a pattern.

Poor leadership sits at the center. Always. 78.7% of employees who experienced workplace toxicity traced the problem directly back to poor leadership and management. Every single time, leadership is the root.

Here's what this looks like in practice:

• Mixed messages from leadership that leave you confused about priorities

• Favoritism that determines who gets opportunities and who gets overlooked

• Lack of accountability where some people follow rules and others don't

• Communication breakdowns that leave you guessing what's expected

• Workloads that make it impossible to succeed without burning out

The damage compounds quickly. 87% of workers report that toxic culture directly impacted their mental health. Some develop stress-related health issues. Others stop sleeping. Many lose confidence in abilities they absolutely have.

It's gotten so bad that the U.S. Surgeon General now considers workplace toxicity a major public health threat. This isn't just about feeling stressed. We're talking chronic illness. Depression. Heart disease.

What this means for you: Your body is trying to tell you something. Listen.

The Trust Problem

Here's what didn’t surprise me: only 25% of employees believe HR will address toxic behaviors. Almost 45% don't trust HR at all.

When students ask me what to do about workplace problems, I used to say "talk to HR." Now I know that advice often leads nowhere. Over 60% of employees who reported issues to HR said nothing was done to fix the problem.

This creates a trap. You're experiencing toxicity. You report it. Nothing changes. Now you're the person who complained, and the toxic behavior continues.

Students need different strategies.

What Actually Helps

I've watched employees navigate toxic workplaces successfully. Not by fixing the workplace, but by protecting themselves while they figure out their next move.

Document everything. Keep records of conversations, emails, and incidents. This isn't about being paranoid. It's about having evidence if you need it later.

Build your support system outside work. Studies show people with strong support systems report 50% higher job satisfaction. Find mentors, join professional groups, connect with others in your field who get it.

Set boundaries you can actually maintain. Decide what you will and won't accept. Then stick to it. This might mean not checking email after 7pm. Or saying no to projects that push you past your limit.

Focus on what you can control. You can't fix broken leadership. You can't change company culture alone. But you can control your response, your development, and your exit strategy.

Keep building your skills. The best protection against a toxic workplace is the ability to leave. Keep learning. Keep growing. Make yourself marketable.

The Real Preparation

When I founded Campus to Commerce, I knew we needed to do more than connect students with internships. We needed to give them real-world experience in environments where they could learn what healthy workplaces look like.

Our micro-internships let students test different workplace cultures. They get to see how leadership actually operates. They experience what good communication feels like. They learn to recognize red flags before accepting full-time offers.

This matters because Gen Z enters the workforce with different expectations about mental health and workplace treatment. They're not willing to sacrifice their wellbeing the way previous generations did.

That's not weakness. That's wisdom.

What I Tell Students Now

You're going to encounter toxic workplaces. The statistics make that almost certain.

Your job isn't to fix them. Your job is to recognize them, protect yourself, and move toward something better.

Watch for the warning signs during interviews. Ask about turnover rates. Notice how people talk about leadership. Pay attention to how current employees interact.

If you end up in a toxic environment anyway, remember this: leaving isn't failure. Staying too long is.

Your mental health matters more than any job. Your growth matters more than any paycheck. Your future matters more than proving you can tough it out.

The best career move you can make is learning to walk away from situations that diminish you.

Building the Bridge Forward

I've spent my career building bridges between education and employment. But the bridge I'm most focused on now connects students to workplaces that actually deserve their talent.

Not every business gets this right. But the ones that do understand something fundamental: healthy workplace culture isn't a perk. It's the foundation for everything else.

When students come to Campus to Commerce, they don't just get work experience. They get exposure to businesses that value communication, respect boundaries, and treat people like humans instead of resources.

That's the real preparation. Learning what good looks like so you can recognize bad when you see it.

Your career will span decades. You'll work for multiple companies. Some will be great. Some won't be.

The skill that matters most is knowing the difference and having the courage to choose yourself when you need to.

That's what I wish someone had told me twenty years ago. That's what I'm telling students now.