Professional - Office bullies turn to email

Far from improving productivity, faceless communication by email can lower productivity, raise stress and allow bullies to force people out of their jobs.

These are the conclusions of research conducted on behalf of Novell, which surveyed more than 1,000 email users in the UK. One in 70 users said they had been forced to leave jobs because of bullying by email.

In total, misuse of email is estimated to cost UK industry a 'staggering' #10bn each year, Novell said.

Lyn Witheridge, chief executive at The Andrea Adams Trust, a workplace bullying charity, said: 'The office bully has a powerful new weapon in email.'

The majority of 'flame-mails' - aggressive or insulting emails - come from superiors. Over half the respondents said they had received flame-mails, and a quarter of those said flame-mails arrived every week.

Jacqie Forrest, group market development manager at Novell, said: 'Bullying by email is hidden from the sight of peers. Many industry leaders were playground bullies.'

In one case, a local authority employee was forced out of his job after a campaign of flame-mails from his boss. The employee did not have any face-to-face communication with his superior for five months, despite working only a few desks away.