[ebg13]

> The people who stay at CM are mostly too scared to leave

How does this happen to people? Are there really no other options or something? Are they barrel-bottom candidates on their final shot? I just can't imagine feeling like I need my employer more than it needs me.

[prplnrpl]

I don't have a good answer for you. A lot of people have left to much better environments and yet a subset stick around painfully aware of how bad it is. It doesn't make sense. Though my understanding of the psychology of toxic environments is that the longer you're in them, the more you normalise them. Lot of Stockholm Syndrome going on there. Lot of people claiming "of it's not that bad" and then tip toeing around all day while being micromanaged.

[joshstrange]

> How does this happen to people?

I've seen this happen to people I would NEVER expect to stick around a bad environment, hell, I'll seen it happen to people who have left previous jobs because of a bad environment yet they can't/won't admit where they are now is bad.

It's extremely easy to, from the outside looking in, see a bad/toxic environment but sometimes when you are in the weeds you miss it completely or think "it's not too bad".

Things I've heard from friends (people I value highly and would hire in a minute if I had the power):

* Well it's not that bad

* What if my skills have atrophied and no one wants me

* I don't think I can make as much $$$ elsewhere

* I think it's getting better

* I like the people I work with/don't want to leave them hanging

I once had a guy who had been in the industry almost twice as long as me (10 years me -> 20 years him) who wasn't sure if he could find a job that paid as much. He was making 85% of my salary at the time and I considered a number of his skills to exceed mine greatly.

Another friend had put up with overwork, denied PTO, unofficial holidays taken away, etc. He told our friend group about this and asked "Is that really that bad?". A "frog in boiling water" story if I ever heard one...

What I'm trying to convey is some people do feel forced to stay in a bad situation and some genuinely don't see it. People are weird...

[Tempest1981]

Some insight here: (just scan the bold headings)

https://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

[EmilLondon]

Or, perhaps it isn't actually true.

[ebg13]

It's definitely true for a general subset of people. I just don't understand how they got there.