Employees and HR are usually just enablers of workplace bullies because it is normalized in ad agencies in the Philippines.
I worked in an advertising agency in the Philippines. Ad agencies in this country have a reputation for being toxic. They say they are “not toxic” but once you are in it, it very much is.
When you make one mistake at work or the client simply does not like you, they will report it to the founder/management of the company. The upper management will obviously only listen to the client (where the revenue comes from). Depending on hearsay. They will usually target or look to blame an employee when something wrong happens. For example, you are not present to respond to a client after work hours. The bosses will take it against you and scream at you. They cannot “lose the client” but they are definitely willing to lose any employee.
Screaming, gossip, mobbing, creating false narratives. It doesn’t matter that my nights and weekends were taken up by work to cross bridges for the client. They don’t even offer overtime pay; employees were severely overworked and underpaid. The only benefit they could offer were “OT Meals” known as overtime meals worth around 200+ pesos including delivery fee (or around 4 US dollars).
I felt dehumanized, to say the least.
They don’t care about you. They care about profit and if they can order you around. Saying no to the employer is like a crime to them. They don’t really know a life outside of work.
Employees and HR are usually just enablers of workplace bullies because it is normalized in ad agencies in the Philippines. They stick it out because I guess they need to feed their families as well.
They resent people who leave the organization and the cycle repeats itself. They don’t care how they speak to their employees. They manipulate, lie, and bully. “Empathy” should only ever be offered to the client.
“We have problems here, so you should have them too.”
Life shouldn’t have to be that hard; if you have a choice, run.
Depression, anxiety, panic attacks. These people are evil and they’re not afraid to say it out loud. The victims like me and my other workmates who resigned are just expected to go on with our lives quietly. Because these people have the capacity to sue you, stalk you, or access the stories they create about you to other people.
They usually have high employee turnover and I don’t think they are that successful anyway. They have financial problems, and they just continue to prey on newbies because they’re insecure and moody people with no sleep. The more people know what it’s like inside ad agencies, I’m sure they would boycott and not support them. They barely have any values, in my opinion. It’s all about “image”, and money, and networking with rich people for them. It can be such a dark and fake industry and honestly the longer you stay, the longer you would lose your soul. You have to disengage.
Make a tiny white lie then move on with your own beautiful life with the people who actually love you in reality, and who would never bully you for the sake of profit.