61% of Workers Admit to Throwing a Colleague Under the Bus, Survey Finds
Self-preservation, career advancement, and avoiding blame emerged as the leading reasons employees shifted responsibility to coworkers.
News
- 61% of Workers Admit to Throwing a Colleague Under the Bus, Survey Finds
- Alibaba Unveils 2.4-Trillion-Parameter Qwen3.8 AI Model
- UAE Treats AI Literacy as a National Economic Priority: Report
- The Hidden Cost of Using AI at Work: It Might Be Making You Boring
- WEF Names UAE PASS a Global Benchmark for Digital Identity
- China's Moonshot Debuts Kimi K3, a 2.8T-Parameter Open AI Model
Return-to-office mandates have brought employees back together—but they may also be reviving one of the workplace’s least desirable behaviors: throwing colleagues under the bus. New research suggests finger-pointing, credit-stealing, and blame-shifting remain common as employees navigate career pressures and workplace competition.
Research by Resume Now, based on responses from more than 1,000 U.S. workers, found that 61% admitted to having thrown a colleague under the bus at work. Yet 73% insisted they had never done so themselves, despite most saying they had been on the receiving end of the behavior.
The most common motivations behind this behavior were self-preservation: 47% did it to safeguard their own reputations, while 45% did so to avoid personal consequences. Career-driven motives were nearly as prevalent: 40% cited a desire to advance their careers, and another 40% aimed to gain favor with leadership.
Nearly half of the respondents admitted to reverting to the practice at some point to advance their careers.
The blame game emerged as a consistent phenomenon. Twenty-six percent blamed others for their mistakes, while 21% were found to be instigating leadership with negative information about a coworker. “Blame culture isn’t just an occasional workplace annoyance—it can damage professional relationships, lower morale, and create a toxic environment where employees feel they must watch their backs instead of working together,” the report said.
Notably, 10% admitted to withholding information that could potentially help a colleague succeed.
Gen Z, the generation accounting for nearly 30% of the global workforce, and millennials were twice as likely to be behind the move as boomers and Gen X.
The report indicates that openly discussing workplace expectations, values, ethics, and conflict resolution can help mitigate toxic dynamics. Employees are encouraged to foster positive relationships with colleagues and supervisors, maintain transparency about their work, and enhance conflict-resolution skills to resolve issues directly rather than letting them escalate.
