The cost of a toxic workplace
Focus on Africa

The cost of a toxic workplace

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 16, 202622 min

Across Africa, more young workers are questioning what they should have to tolerate at work. From bullying and excessive workloads to poor leadership and low pay, some are choosing to leave jobs that take a toll on their mental health. The World Health Organization estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy 12 billion working days every year, amounting to around US$1 trillion in lost productivity. Meanwhile, Gallup’s 2026 workplace report found that just 19% of employees in sub-Saharan Africa were engaged at work. So what makes a workplace toxic, and how can workers tell the difference between ordinary job pr...

Play episode

Opens the player: the full transcript, every word clickable, with translation and flashcards.

Try it: tap any word

Real sentences from the start of this episode. Every word is marked with its level.

Sentence 2 of 12 · 0:10

Hello there and welcome. I'm Keci Obona with Focus on Africa the conversation.

? ?

Gen Z's like to stand on business. We just want a peaceful environment. Like we don't

Hear this sentence

Tap a word to see its meaning in your language.

Do you know these words?

8 harder words from this episode. Tap one to see what it means, then mark it.

  • B20:10
  • C13:52
  • B25:47
  • B28:35
  • B212:50
  • B215:06
  • B217:10
  • C120:26

Mark a few words and we'll tell you how this episode fits your level.

Is this episode right for you?

B2

B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 31%A2 35%B1 20%B2 11%C1 3%
  • 86% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 175 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 88 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

Transcript

The opening of the episode. The whole transcript is in the player.

0:00

Hello there and welcome. I'm Keci Obona with Focus on Africa the conversation. Are Gen Z's just difficult in the workplace? Or is the corporate setting just toxic? Gen Z's like to stand on business. We just want a peaceful environment. Like we don't want that shouting or being yelled out.

0:25

A 2025 global survey by consulting firm Deloitte found that 40% of Gen Z respondents said they felt stressed or anxious all or most of the time, compared with 34% of millennials. And in Sub-Saharan Africa, Gallup's latest workplace report found that only about one in five employees were engaged at work.

0:50

So we spoke to 23-year-old computer science graduates you heard earlier, telling us what drove her to leave her workplace to build a career as a TikTok content creator and influencer. But we couldn't leave out the millennials. I was raised by gamers, so all I was told was,

That was the opening. The rest of the episode (22 min) is in the player: every word clickable, with translation, saved words and flashcards.

Continue in the player

Automatically generated from the audio. May contain errors. Audio belongs to its publisher and is played from their feed. Rights holders can request removal — copyright & takedown policy