How Does it Play Out?
Canceling someone typically consists of a group publicly shaming an individual, followed by the refusal to engage with that person in any capacity. In other words, it’s collectively not talking or working with someone in any capacity. In the workplace, canceling can have enormous effects because it could mean a person, or group of people, are shunned by others. It’s a very dangerous tool that can be easily misused in the corporate environment. Hurtful office rumors can easily escalate into something more serious, such as personal animosity. These personal grudges can be weaponized, and differences of opinion could create workplace pressures that influence good behavior and work product.
Workplace cancel culture involves public shaming, often via social media, leading to ostracization, professional boycotts, or job loss for an employee perceived to have acted or spoken unacceptably, creating a tense environment where fear stifles expression, but also holding individuals accountable for harmful behavior, challenging HR and leadership to balance free speech with company reputation and legal risks. Consequences include career damage, mental health impacts, decreased productivity, and difficulty attracting talent, requiring companies to develop clear social media policies and address toxic behaviors swiftly.
DeskTime offers three ways the cancel culture manifests itself in the workplace.
- Online Shaming: A controversial post or past action resurfaces, leading to online outrage, calls for boycotts, and pressure on the employer.
- Internal Ostracization: Colleagues may passively or actively shun a target, spreading negativity and creating a hostile environment, sometimes fueled by envy or misunderstanding.
- Job Loss: Employers may fire individuals to protect their brand, even for off-duty conduct, as seen in this Reddit thread.
Impact on Employees & Companies
- Accountability: Can hold individuals responsible for genuinely harmful actions (e.g., harassment, bigotry),
- Chilling Effect: Fear of being “canceled” silences open communication and idea sharing.
- Mental Health: Causes significant stress, anxiety, and professional ruin, notes this Welcome to the Jungle article.
- Reputational Risk: Can damage a company’s image and bottom line, according to the DeskTime article and this Thomson Reuters article.
- Proactive Policies: Establish clear social media guidelines and train leadership on handling online issues.
- Swift Response: Address internal conflicts and external crises quickly, issuing clear public and internal statements.
- Support: Offer mental health resources and support for affected employees.
- Nuance: Promote dialogue over instant judgment, recognizing that accountability and mob mentality can both exist.
Boycotting Companies
The cancel culture has affected the workplace in several ways. Employees can be canceled if they make offensive comments on social media about the organization and its programs, such as denying health benefits to part-time workers. Many companies follow the social media activity of their employees during personal as well as workplace hours. Employees should be careful about what they post online.
The cancel culture may also strike and take action against employees who fail to embrace the organization’s political and social justice position on matters affecting society. For example, if a company fully supports the Black Lives Matter movement but a group of employees takes to social media and criticize the company for it, then the employees may be canceled in return.
By far, the most troubling aspect of the cancel culture in the workplace is when a company or its top management adopts a position that goes against the social or political orthodoxy of a group of people who seek to lash out against offenders. In many cases, it illustrates the reaction of progressive Democrats to statements made by conservative Republicans.
Supporters of the cancel culture in the workplace claim it’s a form of exercising free-market capitalism by boycotting a person or product for offensive behavior. The idea is to make it more difficult for the company to thrive in its community and even deny it the right to earn a living.
The key to understanding the cancel culture and its effects in the workplace is to understand the motivation for action. In ethics, motivation (intent) defines right and wrong. Trying to harm a company for the words or actions of its top management illustrates self-serving behavior. There is no thought given to the harm that it causes to its employees and their families.
Whistleblowing
Let’s assume an employee has detected what is believed to be improper financial reporting. They bring the matter to the top management but are unsuccessful in changing the accounting. Repeated efforts go unheard. What can they do next? They could, of course, report the matter to regulators, but that is an extreme way of handling the matter. It jeopardizes the employee’s job. It is more likely that they go on social media and denounce the company in some way. It may be an attempt to call out the company for its practices and garner support for the call-out practice that might, in certain cases, lead to canceling the company. Companies need to develop policies to listen to employee complaints. It is important to show employees that the company takes the matter seriously and is seeking to resolve it to avoid being cancelled.
What Can You Do to Counteract Canceling
Henry Engler, writing for Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence, identifies steps you can take to counteract the effects of the Cancel culture in the workplace.
- Try to clear the air by explaining your point of view so that the relevant people in the organization understand why you said or did that triggered the canceling.
- Talk with management and try to resolve the problem because it affects culture.
- Look for another job, which isn’t the best choice, normally, but may be when cancel culture becomes endemic in the DNA of the organization.
What is the Answer?
Is there a solution to the cancel culture problem? I’m becoming more pessimistic day by day. It is a sign of the times that people take to social media to express their outrage. The ease of doing so and the ability to draw followers facilitate the cancellation of companies. There no longer seems to be any tolerance for alternative views. There does not seem to be an appetite to discuss those differences productively. The cancel culture has taken over the psyche of the American public and is crushing civility along the way.
Posted by Dr. Steven Mintz, Ph. D, on January 22, 2026. Steve is a professor emeritus from Cal Poly State University San Luis Obispo. Find out more about Steve’s activities at: https://www.stevenmintzethics.com/. Read his “Ethics Sage” blog and “Workplace Ethics Advice” blog.