History Main / AbusiveWorkplace

** Unfortunately, despite the above Nijisanji has never quite shaken those accusations (with some people going so far as to call it a UsefulNotes/BlackCompany). Part of the reason for this is because compared to other [=VTuber=] agencies, Nijisanji has had a higher proportion of graduations. This can be chalked up to the sheer number of livers (as of March 2024, the company had ''177'' livers total) and so there would naturally be a higher chance of people leaving compared to smaller agencies [[note]] for example, close rival WebAnimation/{{hololive}} has 86 active members while Canda-based agency Phase Connect has 27 during the same period[[/note]]. The other reason that Nijisanji has such a reputation is because of its tendency to {{Unperson}} departed talents, a step most other agencies normally take should a talent be terminated/ fired rather than graduate. This means that it's almost impossible for people to find these departed talents barring collab streams, highlights or fan-made clips. Examples of this happening include Suzuhara Lulu, [[https://www.youtube.com/@LuluSuzuhara/featured whose channel only has her graduation stream up left]], or Otogibara Era, whose Youtube channel no longer exists. This is despite the fact those two talents supposedly left the agency on good terms, thus making people suspicious about just how "good" those terms actually were. [[note]] In the case of Lulu, she was known to be TheDeterminator and had multiple archived streams which reached nearly 12 hours, all of which were privated and made inaccessible after her departure.[[/note]]

%% (not to be posted until 2025, as according to NoRecenExamplesPlease) * upd8 was a 2018 [=VTuber=] agency that managed WebAnimation/KizunaAi, among other talents (for example, hololive member Virtual Diva AZKi was part of the INoNaKa Music unit). Their second biggest talent after Kizunai Ai herself was Oda Nobuhime, who originally debuted as an independent [=VTuber=] in April 2018 before joining upd8 in June of that same year. By around 2020, however, rumours had begun spreading that upd8 wasn't the best workplace, especially in terms of its management. These rumours alleged that upd8's management was very controlling, going so far as to dictate personal relationships [[note]] for example, while Nobuhime got along very well with Inkuyama Tamaki, management often tried to prevent them from collaborating with each other[[/note]]. In addition, upd8 experimented with identifying potential replacement voice actors for some talents, allegedly in order to help lighten the talents' workload but which many people viewed as a tacit threat that the company viewed their talents as replaceable (i.e. anyone could step into the role of a particular [=VTuber=] as long as they had the model). Nobuhime would graduate in April 2020, and that same day Kizuna Ai and the groups [=AniMare=] and [=HoneyStrap=] announced they would be parting ways with the agency. A slew of graduations and departures would follow, and by December of 2020 the company announced it was closing its doors. The remaining [=VTubers=] attached to the company continued their activities as independents.

* ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'': The player can turn their SupervillainLair into one of these, with death traps that trigger even when employees walk by, not providing adequate areas for rest, food, and relaxation, and the occasional bout of YouHaveFailedMe. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Because recruiting and training new personnel is a constant drain on resources, it's not the most efficient way to run an evil organisation]]. Even if you have money to burn, losing the highly-trained higher-ranked mooks can dramatically affect the organisation's operations.

* In 2019, several employee reviews at the website Glassdoors drew attention to awful work conditions at Creator/RoosterTeeth including long hours, unpaid overtime, and extremely stressful work environments. The company's defenders tried to play down these negative reviews as being the work of disgruntled ex-employees and pointed to a high rate of employee retention (a high employee turnover is generally a sign that a company is bad to work at), until former high-ranking Rooster Teeth employees like directors or showrunners came forward to confirm the reviews were in fact true. Furthermore, while employees had a high retention rate, Rooster Teeth was revealed to make heavy use of unpaid interns who were under the impression that their work would lead to a proper job offer, only to be let go once projects were completed or they were so worn out they could no longer continue working. Those unpaid interns didn't count as "employees" and so [[LoopholeAbuse were not included under employee turnover]]. More details can be read [[TroubledProduction/RoosterTeeth here]].

* ''Manga/Zom100BucketListOfTheDead'': The advertising company Akira worked at for three years was so awful that he was suicidal during his last year there and has lingering PTSD. He wasn't even allowed to go home on his first day on the job for ''two days'' because of a deadline, he and his coworkers had to constantly work unpaid overtime, at least one female worker was sexually abused by the C.E.O., taking sick days or vacation days could get you fired, and everybody was repeatedly chewed out for missing deadlines that changed on a whim, for asking the department head for advice, or for making decisions without the department head. It's telling that the first thing Akira does upon the ZombieApocalypse (once he gets over his initial panic) is cheer when he realizes he's free from that company.

* ''WebAnimation/AoharuMangaLibrary'': Keiichi may start his story working in such a place ([[UniversalAdaptorCast the company name and the colleague names may vary in each chapter]]). Between having a Bad Boss who disrespects him or a colleague who tries to steal his credits or a female co-worker turning out to be a Gold Digger to other co-workers who are too dependent on him doing most of the jobs (and sometimes don't lift a finger when Keiichi is in a pinch) or extremely tight and stressful work hours to the point Keiichi may fall sick or be undernourished, or perhaps all of them at once, it usually shows just how bad the workplace is. Thankfully, Keiichi will eventually decide to just call it quits and move on to a much better workplace, while said abusive workplace falls apart because Keiichi turns out to be the sole reason they're still standing, and [[RemovingTheCrucialTeammate they have just driven him off.]]

* ''WebAnimation/AoharuMangaLibrary'': Keiichi may start his story working in such a place ([[UniversalAdaptorCast the company name and the colleague names may vary in each chapter]]). The situations may vary between having a BadBoss who disrespects him, a [[WeaselCoWorker colleague]] who [[StealingTheCredit tries to steal his credits]], a female co-worker turning out to be a GoldDigger, other co-workers who are too dependent on him doing most of the jobs (and sometimes [[BystanderSyndrome don't lift a finger when Keiichi is in a pinch]]), extremely tight and stressful work hours to the point Keiichi may fall sick or be undernourished, or perhaps ''all of them at once''. Thankfully, Keiichi will eventually decide to just call it quits and move on to a much better workplace, while said abusive workplace falls apart because Keiichi turns out to be the sole reason they're still standing, and [[RemovingTheCrucialTeammate they have just driven him off.]]

* ''WebAnimation/AoharuMangaLibrary'': Keiichi may start his story working in such a place ([[UniversalAdaptorCast the company name and the colleague names may vary in each chapter]]). Between having a BadBoss who disrespects him, a [[WeaselCoWorker colleague]] who [[StealingTheCredit tries to steal his credits]], a female co-worker turning out to be a GoldDigger, other co-workers who are too dependent on him doing most of the jobs (and sometimes [[BystanderSyndrome don't lift a finger when Keiichi is in a pinch]]), extremely tight and stressful work hours to the point Keiichi may fall sick or be undernourished, or perhaps ''all of them at once''. Thankfully, Keiichi will eventually decide to just call it quits and move on to a much better workplace, while said abusive workplace falls apart because Keiichi turns out to be the sole reason they're still standing, and [[RemovingTheCrucialTeammate they have just driven him off.]]

* The Japanese [=VTuber=] agency WebAnimation/{{Nijisanji}} has faced accusations of being this in the past, culminating in the formation of the "Nijisanji Resistance" on 15th November 2018. Made up of some of their biggest "livers" [[note]] The InsistentTerminology Nijisanji uses for their talents to differentiate them from rival companies[[/note]], despite the name the resistance was more of a union with the goal of gathering complaints from members and improving company activities. The catalyst for the resistance being formed was the realisation that Nijisanji's insistence on groups keeping separate (e.g. SEEDS and Gamers) was leading to them actively competing with each other to the point that the work atmosphere was becoming outright hostile, and the lack of sufficient managerial staff meant the livers weren't getting much behind-the-scenes support causing low morale. [[MurderArsonAndJaywalking In addition, the toilet paper provided by the company was of very poor quality]]. The resistance eventually wound down when, as founding member Shiina put it, the company improved enough they no longer had much to complain about (especially the toilet paper).

Can overlap with DangerousWorkplace, but where a Dangerous Workplace can offer danger to life and limb simply due to the nature of the job (e.g. logging still has the risk of a tree falling in just the wrong way), an Abusive Workplace may be more damaging mentally. Compare EvilInc and NebulousEvilOrganisation, which ironically enough are sometimes aren't actually bad places to work at compared to these. WorkplaceHorror can be an extreme example of this, especially when the place of work ''isn't'' supposed to be particularly scary or threatening. A CrapsackWorld may have these all over the place. Almost assured to have more than one BadBoss with a CorruptCorporateExecutive above them. If a character happens to be BosssUnfavoriteEmployee, ''any'' place of work can feel like one of these, especially if other employees get in on the action.

* The term "UsefulNotes/BlackCompany" is a specifically Japanese term that describes a variant of one of these, but is normally associated with white collar (i.e. office) work rather than labor like sweatshops above. They're still extremely abusive, with people often being DrivenToSuicide by just how toxic they are. Unfortunately, many Japanese workplaces have traces of black company methodology in them, which is part of the reason so many young people become disenchanted with working.

** When Nijisanji GAMER member Yamiyono Moruru left the company in June 2019, she had a graduation stream. During such streams, it's normal for a [=VTubers=] friends, acquaintances and genmates to call in or send messages wishing them well. In Moruru's case, ''no one'' from the agency, including her own genmates, showed up. She would mention on a PL [[note]] A fandom term referring to "Past Life" i.e. the identity someone has/had before becoming a particular [=VTuber=] [[/note]] that part of the reason she left the company was a feeling that she wasn't getting any support from management and was being treated as a pariah by other livers. As an example of the former, she had some skill with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electone Electone]], a fairly unique skill among Nijisanji's livers, but that skill went completely underutilised throughout her time with the agency [[note]] As for why this was a waste, when she later joined a different [=VTuber=] agency she further developed her skill to the point that Yamaha, the company behind the Electone, took notice and even featured her on the official website ''twice''[[/note]].

# A BadBoss or MeanBoss
# Awful co-workers (e.g. who will undermine each other to make themselves look good, who will harass and bully those lower down than them, slackers)
# Very low pay
# Long work hours

** Unsurprisingly implied in many of the bios from the original toyline (which were expanded in the [[ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel Transformers Universe]] books. Some are obvious, like Megatron being a BadBoss or Soundwave happily using his mind-reading abilities to blackmail other Decepticons. Others are more mundane, with Direct-Hit being a victim of ThePeterPrinciple (he was a competent warrior but promoted to team leader... a role he's completely unsuited for) or Sparkstalker, a brilliant cryptologist best suited for a role in Decepticon military intelligence, who has somehow been assigned as a Firecon and spends most of his time having to physically grab his comrades' heads to at least point them in the direction of the enemy. Blot of the Terrorcons is outright being bullied much of the time due to his condition that causes him to emit foul-smelling oils from his joints, and some mid-ranked officers like Motormaster and Roadblock are described as being both physically and vocally abusive.

* The term "UsefulNotes/BlackCompany" is a specifically Japanese term that describes a variant of one of these, but is normally associated with white collar (i.e. office) work rather than labor like sweatshops above. They're still extremely abusive, with people often being DrivenToSuicide by just how toxic they are.

* In 2015, Creator/{{Konami}} was hit by a series of PR incidents that painted the company in a bad light. Besides an infamous feud with Creator/HideoKojima, it was also revealed via an unflattering interview that Konami had been making its video game division's life a living hell, with the employees likening it to being sent to prison (among other things, they were subjected to huge amounts of pointless oversight, and employees punished by having to do janitorial work for other divisions). It was strongly suspected this was done in order to make the gaming division's employees quit so as to save the company money from firing them, as the CEO of the time intended to take Konami away from producing AAA video games and instead focus on mobile game titles and pachinko machines. While such tactics aren't considered particularly eyebrow-raising in Japan, when the news spread overseas video game fans were livid and Konami has [[NeverLiveItDown suffered from a reputation]] as a UsefulNotes/BlackCompany ever since. Their treatment of the video game division also came back to bite them during the COVID-19 pandemic, as profits from the astoundingly lucrative pachinko slot market dried up dramatically (and new rules being put into place by the Japanese government would've eaten into said profits anyway). With the video game division gutted, Konami had to rely on external studios to develop games while they tried to rebuild.

--> ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'': [[Recap/TheAmazingWorldOfGumballS3E13TheBoss "The Boss"]]

But some places of work don't bother. Employees are just a cog in a machine, easily replaceable, and treated as such. Low pay, verbal (or even physical) abuse, dangerous work environments, lack of support or guidance, awful work-life balance, an Abusive Workplace will, simply put, be an awful place to work.

What makes them so abusive isn't just the place of work having NoOSHACompliance, the presence of a MeanBoss or PointyHairedBoss, an overabundance of [[ObstructiveBureaucrat unreasonable or even outright oppresive rules]], and awful coworkers who may either [[WeaselCoWorker be lazy and push their work off on others (especially low-ranked people)]] or outright be schemers and backstabbers. Rather, it's the presence of all those factors '''at once'''. The very culture of the workplace is toxic by nature, with a SocialDarwinist outlook where even employees are pitted against each other.

* ''Franchise/GIJoe'': Surprisingly, in the original toyline and associated media COBRA was '''not''' depicted as one of these, generally offering good pay and benefits, along with plenty of opportunity for career advancement [[note]] a humble COBRA trooper or Viper could work their way up the ranks to become an elite Strato-Viper or Snow Serpent or Range Viper, and at least one comic depicted a COBRA trooper who was a multi-millionaire due to his successes in recruiting new COBRA operatives from inside prison [[/note]]. Played straight with the Toxo-Vipers, nicknamed "the Leaky Suit Brigade". These unlucky sorts are given ''mostly'' airtight and solvent-resistant uniforms, and armed with chemical weaponry meant to make the surrounding environment hostile enough to enemy forces that COBRA has the advantage. Their uniforms offer very little protection to enemy weapons, and the nature of their weaponry means that the slightest tear can have horrific consequences. Justified in that being appointed to the Toxo-Vipers is a punishment, and so COBRA is perfectly fine cheaping out on their equipment.

* ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': In "Night Bill", Bill begins moonlighting at a telemarketing firm to earn extra money. The boss, Jyle, is verbally abusive to his employees and makes them sign explotative, long-term contracts, and encourages them to compete against each other, and all the other employees seen are tired and miserable. When Bill tries to quit after Cricket and Tilly convince him to come home, Jyle refuses to let him, and the kids can only get Bill out of his contract by taking advantage of Jyle's competitive nature and beating him in a race.

* In the entertainment industry, the term [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crunch_(video_games) "crunch"]] originally referred to compulsory uncompensated overtime needed to ensure a video game was ready to launch on schedule. This could lead to work weeks of 65–80 hours for extended periods of time, with developers even going so far as to sleep in the office or continue working at home. In 2004 and 2010, the significant others of employees at EA and Rockstar games drew attention to the deteriorating work conditions of their loved ones which resulted in negative health issues, and many studios became infamous for a reliance on extended periods of crunch [[note]] The idea of a development team having to scramble to solve an issue before a game's launch in of itself isn't necessarily bad as unexpected problems can crop up at the last minute, but the issue is that some studios developed a "crunch culture" that ''relied'' on crunch to meet their deadlines, showing a failure to properly plan or manage assets[[/note]]. The term has also since extended to other industries like animation and visual effects.