“There’s No Way Out… This Phenomenon Is Everywhere”: Early-Career, Non-Managerial Chinese Women’s Experiences of Workplace Cyberbullying

Digital messaging applications structure everyday work in China, with WeChat often used via employees’ personal accounts, organisational communication becomes merged with private life. This study uses interpretative phenomenological analysis to examine how workplace cyberbullying (WCB) is experienced and understood in routine WeChat-mediated work. Nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with early-career, non-managerial Chinese women (aged 26–32) who had experienced WCB. The analysis identified five themes showing that WCB was typically embedded in daily digital work practices rather than confined to isolated hostile incidents. Participants reported reputational attacks, public undermining, and exclusion in group chats alongside gendered degradation, such as sexualised rumours about promotion, as well as client‑initiated online sexual harassment. They also recounted culturally normalised hierarchical cyber-control through monitoring of responsiveness, demands for deference in group spaces, and expectations of late-night and weekend compliance. Some accounts described paternalistic “dad-flavour” messaging that framed obedience as care or guidance. Work demands routinely crossed into participants’ personal spheres through after-hours contact and corporate visibility requirements via personal accounts. Many participants avoided formal reporting, citing uncertainty about what counts as WCB, low confidence in organisational action, and the risks of challenging authority. Coping relied on venting, emotional detachment, avoidance, and technical workarounds, alongside a clear desire for organisational protection. These findings highlight the need for stronger digital communication governance, including clear policies on personal-account use for work, after-hours contact, mandatory corporate visibility practices, and escalation routes for client-initiated sexual harassment.