60% of US Workers Have a Toxic Boss: Harris Poll 2026 Reveals Workplace Culture Crisis

# 60% of US Workers Have a Toxic Boss: Harris Poll 2026 Reveals Workplace Culture Crisis

> **Quick answer:** A Harris Poll survey of 1,334 employed US adults, released May 5, 2026, found that 60% of workers currently have a toxic boss — defined as someone who micromanages, steals credit, shifts blame, withholds recognition, or discriminates. 70% have had a toxic boss at some point in their career. 67% have already changed jobs to escape bad leadership. The crisis is costing workers both their mental health and their money.

The latest workplace data is in, and it is not subtle. A new Harris Poll survey released on May 5, 2026 found that **six in ten US workers currently report having a toxic boss** — a figure that raises an uncomfortable question: is this a leadership crisis, or has toxic management simply become the default setting of American work culture?

## What the Harris Poll Found: The Full Data Picture

Conducted by Harris Poll's Thought Leadership Practice and based on responses from **1,334 employed US adults**, the survey paints a comprehensive and damaging portrait of American workplace leadership in 2026.

The headline number is alarming enough on its own: **60% of workers currently have a toxic boss**. But the career-wide figure is worse. **70% of workers have had a toxic boss at some point in their career.** For LGBTQIA+ workers specifically, that number climbs to **75%**.