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."

Comments

An idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Have they tried not treating their workers like shit? Won't stop all theft, but should reduce it.

Re:An idea

[hey!]

There's been a shift. When I was young, people normally stayed at jobs for ten or more years; it wasn't unusual for people to get out of school, get a job, and work at the same place until retirement. Relationships lasted beyond retirement with people taking company pensions (now largely raided to prop up executive compensation).

The thing is, that's not *agile*. Companies hire and let go workers as needed; there's no sense that there's loyalty owed either way. The people working for you are like strangers you give the keys to your house to. The median duration of employment for someone 25-34 is about three years.

Re:An idea

[Austerity Empowers]

You read it here, workers who are at an employer more than 5 years steal twice as much! Gotta fire em quick.

I worked in a place once that provided free soda to employees. For a while it worked, then we crossed a threshold of about 70 employees and stupid shit started happening. People walking out with costco containers of soda, etc. We knew who it was and we did give them grief, but some people are immune to peer pressure, and the boss doesn't fire based on hearsay. So they put in a vending machine (I don't know where it came from), and charged $.01 per soda. You could still "buy" 36 packs of soda for far less than they cost at Costco, but nobody did. The transaction process was enough, and pennies were always around as a result, so it was no big deal and we could still have nice things.

The problem is that vending machines are designed for soda, but office supplies tax even the most flexible machine. There are software and tools that can provide a functional equivalent, but they usually cost more than the problem is worth. And thus this story isn't really that interesting: a decision was made, and the problem wasn't worth a solution.

Re:An idea

[LostMyAccount]

First of all Junior, I'm 52, so I don't know what the fuck generation you're talking about.

I also challenge the entire narrative of "more theft" taking place. Random small quantities of office supplies have walked away for decades, mostly inadvertently. I mean what are you going to do, steal a box of copier paper and sell it on the corner?

I also don't believe people can just smash their iPhones on purpose and get new models. The last group of people any IT department wants to reward is the moron that conveniently breaks their device. An exec might get away with it, but that shit's expensive and it would call attention to whoever did it more than once. They'd get canned or be required to keep it in a giant Otterbox type case.

Whatever meaningful theft might be happening probably is an externality of 21st century capitalism. They shitcanned all the middle managers whose job it was, basically, to keep track of stuff. Just-in-time delivery means there's little planning and with the emphasis on rush shipping on everything, I'm sure the losses through outright mistakes in order fulfillment, delivery, etc are fairly high.

I think is two things, one, a chance for employers to bitch about employees depriving them of their right and true profits through waste and thievery. And two, a way for employers to shift the burden of bad management onto their employees. Fuck them. If they weren't so greedy and self-dealing, they could keep track of their resources better.

Probably more to do with the worsening economy

[rsilvergun]

It's not worth getting in trouble for snagging office supplies most of the time, but if you're struggling to make ends meet and your school just sent home a giant list of crap you need for your kid then suddenly it's worth it.

I remember being pretty shocked when even in high school I had to come up with $50-$100 bucks a month in various supplies for my kid's school projects. Crap that, when I was a kid (before the funding cuts of the mid 90s and 2000s) was just part of school.

A buddy of mine recently moved from a poor district to a rich one after saving the down payment to buy a house and was shocked by how much he was saving on school supplies because the school had things like paper, pencils and art supplies.

Re:Probably more to do with the worsening economy

[phantomfive]

I am not a company owner, but if I were I would not care one bit if employees were taking pens home. I wouldn't even call that stealing. Take them if they want. I would put a basket in the front labeled, "Free Pens." Because seriously, if pens make people happy......such a small expense for improving office morale. And why not, a free red stapler at every desk.

Re: Probably more to do with the worsening economy

[Mr D from 63]

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

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

Re:Probably more to do with the worsening economy

[guruevi]

Actually it's the other way around. All stats show that the more you make the more you steal. It correlates also with how long you've been at the company and thus can "get away with".

So a better economy would translate in higher theft since "the company is doing better now, they can afford some losses".

In the end it's just part of doing business, would you fire your best for taking a pen or a $5 box of pens? Electronics similarly are both insured and replaced through leases at virtually no cost. I've never had electronics disappear through third party theft, but the insurance doesn't go down so an employee needing a replacement at the end of the useful lifespan is better for me in the end.

Re:Probably more to do with the worsening economy

[Solandri]

Pens are probably not the best example. When I was working at a hotel, we accidentally ordered a 200-pack of the expensive high-end luxurious soft bath towels instead of the standard grade ones. The customers really liked them (we got numerous unsolicited comments about how nice they were), so we were mulling the possibility of switching to them permanently. The housekeeping staff didn't report any problems with them wearing out in the wash faster than the regular towels (industrial washing machines are not kind on textiles). Normally 200 towels would last about 1-2 years before they'd wear out and we'd have to order new ones. But the luxury ones lasted less than 6 months before we were down to a couple dozen.

There was no proof, but the obvious suspicion was that employees were simply taking them home (they were really nice) and either giving them out to friends and relatives or selling them. Overall they represented the loss of about $1500 (luxury towel cost minus 6 months of regular towel cost), and we decided not to switch because of the rampant theft. Since the hotel only had about 70 employees and the end-of-year bonus pool was a percent of the profit, basically each employee chipped in $20 of their annual bonus to buy towels for a few thieves.

Re:Probably more to do with the worsening economy

[phantomfive]

Awesome. Good for you... Except for the part where I get the feeling you're trying to justify it..

Nah. I get paid enough I don't need to steal pens, and I'm too picky to use the company supplied pens. I bring my own too work.

You being fine with giving away pens doesn't mean I am.

OK, so you suck. What else do you want me to tell you about yourself?

Re:Probably more to do with the worsening economy

[dgatwood]

One year we were told to send twelve dozen sharpened pencils for each student.

Who wants to bet someone wrote down 12 (dozen) pencils, and someone dropped the parentheses?

Re:Everyone is a spineless weasel

[phantomfive]

I only worked for one company that wasn't run by a total piece of shit in my career,

There might be something wrong with you. At very least, you can say your selection of employment places should be improved.

There's a book about this.

[DanielRavenNest]

I seem to remember a Dilbert book "How to build a better life by stealing office supplies".

The summary didn't mention "envy" as a reason. The disparity in pay and wealth has grown a lot in the last few decades. Contrast Jeff Bezos with an Amazon warehouse worker, or the Walton family vs Walmart clerks. CEOs have always made more than line staff, but the ratio has increased greatly.

Re:Everyone is a spineless weasel

[b0s0z0ku]

Not everyone wants a gig economy McJob -- why should a secure job and reasonable working conditions be incompatible? They're not in most of the developed world, you know.

Wages of Wage Stagnation

[imperious_rex]

I'm not condoning employee theft, but I understand where they're coming from. With stagnant wages, it should be no surprise to anybody that more employees are committing petty larceny. But the bigger cost is "time theft" when non-smoking workers take smoke breaks too, long visits to the bathroom with a smart phone in the pocket, or the frequent extended lunch break. Employees with stagnant wages will seek just compensation one way or another.

Just deduct it from the dividend

[grumling]

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

Re:Yes and?

[dgatwood]

Spoken like a true thief.. A thief with a tiny brain who can't read a fucking article.. 52% asshole.. 52% of the work force taking home supplies. You don't think that adds up?

It's hard not to take home office supplies. You're running late to a meeting, so you grab a pen off your desk and stick it in your pocket. Then you forget about it. A week later, your significant other asks if you forgot about something, and that's when you find out that the pen exploded all over the laundry. Or at best, you notice it, and you toss it somewhere to bring with you the next day, and then by the next day, you've forgotten about it. A month goes by, and you see a pen and wonder why it is there, and you put it in the jar with the rest of your pens.

That's not stealing in any meaningful sense of the word. Besides, most employers these days expect you to do some work from home outside of office hours. So if you don't have a few random office supplies from work at home, then your employer is arguably stealing from you.

The real problem is companies that let their bean counters total up the cost of those supplies and then try to find ways to reduce that cost. In aggregate, yes, office supplies add up. But the total collapse of workplace morale when you try to limit those losses adds up to far more damage, both in the short term and long term. Office supplies are simply a part of the cost of doing business, including the ones that end up randomly walking away, whether intentionally or accidentally. And if you can't afford office supplies, you should really take a look at the balance sheet and see how much more expensive your employees are. :-)