The devil wears a Patagonia vest

Hi! I’m Peter, CEO of Kickresume, and these career-related stories caught my attention this month — and might catch yours too.

Last week, the CEO of Astronomer and his Head of HR got caught having an affair on a kiss cam during a Coldplay concert. There goes a sentence I’d never thought I’d write. 

Look, it's obviously terrible for everyone involved - their families, the employees affected, and a company's reputation now in shambles. (Though the memes were magnificent…)

But from a purely journalistic standpoint? This scandal is a gift. 

Because it turns out to be the perfect visual metaphor for what we discovered when we surveyed over 1,000 people about their horrible bosses.

Oh, the problem is (also) me?

Our latest survey aimed to find out about your experience with horrible bosses - what they're like, how they behave, and what employees actually do about all that. 

And honestly? The results were more depressing than I expected.

85% of respondents reported having worked under a boss they would describe as 'horrible.'

Which, as someone who is technically a boss myself, was a sobering reminder that I'm probably in someone's complaint story right now.

But putting my own existential crisis aside for a moment, let's focus on the data. Because we now have a definitive profile of who these horrible bosses actually are.

You'd probably expect it to be some old rich dude in a corner office who wants to squeeze every ounce of productivity out of you while paying as little as possible. The kind of guy who still prints emails and thinks "work-life balance" is a millennial conspiracy.

The thing is, only one part of that stereotype is accurate – it is a dude.

64% of our respondents said their difficult boss was male, while only 35% reported a female boss. (Though this probably just reflects the gender imbalance in leadership positions where men still dominate.)

But gender was the only part of the stereotype that proved accurate. 

Because it turns out, the bosses causing the most frustration aren't the expected Boomers – they're Millennials.

This is pretty surprising when you think about it. Millennials were the ones constantly complaining about toxic work culture. They're the generation that finally brought work-life balance into the mainstream conversation and pushed for mental health awareness in the workplace. 

I guess once you get a little power, all that goes out the window, regardless of generation.

Meanwhile, those stereotypical grumpy Baby Boomers? They only make up 3% of horrible bosses in our survey.

Which surprised me even more. But when you think about it, it's actually quite simple. They're mostly retired now.

We're here to help (the company)

Okay, so your boss sucks and it's probably a millennial man. But surely there's someone in your company whose job it is to help you deal with this, right? Right? Well, about that...

Remember, the Astronomer CEO wasn't alone on that kiss cam. 

Which brings us to the second villain in this story, HR.

When we asked people what they did to deal with their boss’s behaviour, the answers weren’t exactly cheerful:

• 22% started job hunting, 

• 18% kept their head down and did nothing, 

• 15% focused on self-care. 

Only a small number decided to confront their boss (10%) or give them direct feedback (9%).

Oh, and what about HR? Only 5% reported the issue to HR.

In other words, three quarters of people chose to manage the situation themselves rather than expecting HR to do their job.

This is pretty wild when you think about what HR is supposedly there for. Their job description literally includes "employee relations" and "conflict resolution."

Yet, somehow, they've managed to become the department people avoid when they actually need help.

The real issue isn't just that HR sucks at what they do - it's that they're structurally designed to protect the company, not you. 

And when your horrible boss is also their boss... well, you can see how that math works out.

A fresh resume might be the only thing that can fix youuuu

So what do you do if you find yourself in a horrible boss – useless HR situation?

Honestly? Our kiss cam couple might have handled their mess better than most people do - they resigned. But that's a lot to expect from the culprits in our survey.

Obviously, the ideal solution would be for companies to hire better managers and for HR to actually do their job. But until that happens, here's some realistic advice:

• Document everything anyway - not for HR, but for your own sanity and legal protection if things go nuclear. Screenshots, emails, dates - keep a paper trail that might actually matter someday.

• Find allies - our survey showed that some teams actually bonded over shared horrible boss experiences. Misery loves company, and having witnesses to the insanity helps validate that you're not losing your mind.

• If you're a Millennial manager reading this - if you find yourself in the position of power, maybe don't be the stereotype? Break the cycle?

• Master the art of strategic job hunting - Polish that LinkedIn profile, expand your network, and keep your options open. Job hunting is now a survival skill.

(Funnily enough, that last point is probably what the two infamous coldplay fans are doing right now.)

PS: I just noticed I never actually mentioned what makes the bosses horrible. Good job, me, Anyway, if you want the gory details, check out the full survey report. 

I’m always impressed to see anyone scroll all the way down here.

As a token of appreciation for your excellent scrolling skills, here’s a 20% discount code for Kickresume Premium.  

Catch you later!  

Peter