'We are a family': 30+ Red flags in the workplace that should prompt every employee make a run for it

Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor

Oct 29, 2023 6:00 PM EDT

When you're young, spry, and fresh out of college, the first thing on your mind is probably trying to get a job. With all these student loans piling up and your parents breathing down your neck about "finding a stable job", it's easy to overlook some obvious red flags in the workplace. Firstly, you don't have any real experience with bad bosses, meager pay, terrible coworkers, and insane workloads, so you expect that this job will be just like any other side job you had in high school or college– except with full time wages. Back when you were a sweet summer child, you knew nothing of the horrors that could be in the workplace.

Experienced employees have come together to teach our youngens of the pitfalls of the workforce, sharing their (now) obvious red flags that every new hire should heed when it comes to their workplace. And for those of you who have a nepo-baby CEO who insists that "we're a family here", this is a wakeup call and a warning for your future work/life balance– Run.

Scroll onward to gather the knowledge and lore of coworker's long-passed, who wished they'd see the red flags sooner– and afterwards, read this frosty story of a disgruntled employee who ate his boss's cake as payback, ruining their company anniversary photo and exactly sweet, sweet revenge.