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Workplace Theft Is On the Rise (theatlantic.com)

rfengineer tipped us off to this story. The Atlantic reports: Your office is a den of thieves. Don't take my word for it: When a forensic-accounting firm surveyed workers in 2013, 52 percent admitted to stealing company property. And the thievery is getting worse. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners reports that theft of "non-cash" property -- ranging from a single pencil in the supply closet to a pallet of them on the company loading dock -- jumped from 10.6 percent of corporate-theft losses in 2002 to 21 percent in 2018. Managers routinely order up to 20 percent more product than is necessary, just to account for sticky-fingered employees.

Some items -- scissors, notebooks, staplers -- are pilfered perennially; others vanish on a seasonal basis: The burn rate on tape spikes when holiday gifts need wrapping, and parents ransack the supply closet in August, to avoid the back-to-school rush at Target. After a new Apple gadget is released, some workers report that their company-issued iPhone is broken -- knowing that IT will furnish a replacement, no questions asked. What's behind this 9-to-5 crime wave? Mark R. Doyle, the president of the loss-prevention consultancy Jack L. Hayes International, points to a decrease in supervision, the ease of reselling purloined products online, and what he alleges is "a general decline in employee honesty."

The report advises companies that the best way to reduce fraud was with surprise audits and data monitoring.

Another interesting statistic? "Fraudsters" who'd been with their company for more than five years "stole twice as much."

3 of 328 comments (clear)

  1. Re: Everyone is a spineless weasel by phantomfive · · Score: 1, Funny

    . and hear me out... you are a spineless weasel.,

    Oh wait, let me check......nope, my exoskeleton is still intact.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  2. Re: Probably more to do with the worsening economy by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 4, Funny

    The economy isn't "worsening" nor would that be an excuse to steal.

    With low unemployment, there are more thieves working today than ever!

  3. Just deduct it from the dividend by grumling · · Score: 3, Funny

    But they told me to act like I own the company.

    --
    "Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."