‘Your mental health matters’: Woman quits ‘toxic’ job in a month, netizens chime in with their work culture experiences

A social media post about a woman who quit her job in just a month because of its toxic work culture has brought back focus to the debate on mental health and a bad work environment.

In a lengthy viral LinkedIn post, Yamini Parnami, a freelance content strategist and the founder of a clothing line ‘Indivibes’, shared why she quit her job in just one month without naming the organisation.

“When I joined the organization, I was hopeful and ready to give it my best. But right from the beginning, things felt off,” she said.

Yamini shared that she was asked to develop a detailed plan and strategy within the first week of joining without being given enough time to understand the company or its operations.

“Fair enough, I thought- I’m new, and they expect results,” she said.

But what ticked her off were the remarks like: “Oh dear, your honeymoon phase is over,” while all she said she did was work.

However, she said it wasn’t just the words but the vibe that forced her to leave.

“The environment felt unwelcoming and avoidant of a new employee. Colleagues acted like it was some middle school, ignoring me during their ‘private conversations’ and keeping things cliquish,” she said, adding that she tried to adjust and make efforts to connect, but “it was a waste of mental energy”.

Yamini shared that she had begun questioning herself about whether she was trying hard enough. “But deep down, I knew this environment wasn’t for me. So, I resigned.”

While her workplace experience was tough, she said what surprised her the most was how the entire process was handled: no response to her resignation email and no experience letter.

Here’s how netizens reacted:

Her advice resonated with several other LinkedIn users who shared their personal workplace experiences in her comment section.

“Yes, I’ve had a similar experience to this. I resigned after 8 days in the role. I was then told it was a good thing you resigned because we were going to fire you anyway. They hired someone immediately after I left. Ironically, I’m still on their hiring email list and received an email this week saying they are now looking for someone new to fill my role. This means they have now had 5 people in this role since October 2024. When I resigned, I thought perhaps I didn’t try hard enough and I should have stuck it out for longer. However, I see now that this was not the case,” a user said.

“Been there Yamini Parnami. I resigned from my first job in 26 days. First week felt like- this job was what I needed. But later it went like, why me god? What bad have I done to have this. Workspace was awesome, colleagues are still in touch but my boss- I was in tears because of his rudeness and behavior,” shared another user.

A user said: “I wish more employers were understanding of this. I had a similar experience with a company. I was gaslighted and excluded by my team from the very beginning. I had never experienced anything like it and have never since. It was the most toxic environment I have ever been in. I resigned less than 3 months in. To this day, I still have potential employers question why I quit after such a short time.”

These are only a handful of personal accounts that social media users shared on toxic work culture. Hundreds more have commented on Yamini’s post alone to share how a bad work environment led them to reign a workplace in days, while many more suffer because of it daily.