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　　British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) August 22 article, original title: How workplace bullying is going remote At first, Joyce was unaware of workplace bullying. Over the years, the company has largely worked remotely, and she feels no physical threat from her colleagues. The communications worker, who lives in the east of England, said: "The bullying I think of is the traditional kind, where someone gets into trouble in person."

　　But over time, she felt like her boss was always targeting her alone. One day, for example, Joyce couldn’t log in when her boss changed her work social media password; another day, Joyce received an email reprimanding her for “opposing” her boss’s ideas. Similar things are happening more and more. Joyce worked for the company for many years, but during that time, she wanted to quit. "It was a nightmarish experience," she said.

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　　Bullying has always been a problem at work, but it has traditionally been associated with the field office. For some employees, telecommuting has provided relief from the hassle of dealing with such things. Yet the evidence shows that workplace bullying continues unabated as companies increasingly move to a remote model, often in more subtle ways — especially as technology opens up new avenues for unkind behavior.

　　Remote bullying is not a new phenomenon. The data suggests the problem existed even before the widespread shift to telecommuting. According to a January 2020 study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, 10% of employees said they had been bullied by colleagues via email, phone calls or social media. Rachel Saff, senior policy adviser for employment at the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, said: "We continue to see incidents of bullying occurring outside the offline workplace."

　　To Saff, the rise in remote bullying is not surprising. She believes the sheer number of digital channels available gives people more avenues for being bullied. According to a 2021 survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute, 43 percent of 1,215 U.S. remote workers surveyed said they had experienced bullying from others in the workplace, primarily via video calls and emails. A quarter of those surveyed believe that working remotely during the pandemic has made colleagues more likely to bully each other. The most-reported incidents include choking off speech during video conferences, deliberately excluding colleagues from remote meetings, and more. Thirty-five percent of respondents said their remote bullying took place in a video conference, where the bullying happens "in real time" in front of someone else.

　　Remote bullying in front of coworkers is not only humiliating, it can exacerbate the disconnect across the team. Carla Wong, an expert in organisational psychology at the University of Manchester, said that in person, colleagues might stop bullying by showing support to the victim, but in a virtual meeting this is more difficult.

　　In general, workplace bullying can lead to anxiety, depression, and reduced productivity at work. However, Huang said: “Cyberbullying has certain characteristics that make it more damaging than traditional in-person bullying. Especially these days, social media is ubiquitous and online 24 hours a day. It may have been a sense of security to leave the workplace before. , but now that division is gone.”

　　For remote employees who are stuck with bullying issues, raise the issue with HR. While it takes courage to speak up, experts recommend the sooner the better, "so it doesn't affect your mental health in the long term."