Workplace pilferage is such a fact of life that entire industries thrive on attempting to prevent it.
But we bet you had no idea workplace theft and fraud are as widespread as this. I was personally surprised that 1 in 30 retail employees have been arrested for stealing from their employers. This implies that many more remain uncaught, and the proportion of those uncaught is anybody’s guess.
Likewise, I was surprised at how education mitigated instances of theft and fraud, but exponentially increased the amounts stolen per incidence. See which office theft statistics surprise you in the infographic below:
Source
Fast Facts:
- 27% of large enterprises reported an increase in theft*
- 7% of annual revenues lost to fraud.
- Managers are responsible for 37.1% of fraud cases
- 29% of American employees claim they’ve had ideas stolen from them.
- Office frauds last an average of two years before they are found out.
- 1 in 30 American retail employees have been arrested for theft
Amounts stolen.
- $1,000,000 and up – 25.3%.
- $500,000 – $999,999 – 9.6%.
- $100,000 – $499,999 – 28.2%
- $50,000 – $99,999 – 11.2%.
- $10,000 – $49,999 – 16.8%.
Men vs Women
Men – 59.1%,
Median amount- $250,000
Women – 40.9%,
Median amount – $110,000
Education level of office thieves.
- High school degree – 34%.
- Postgraduate degree – 11% — but this bracket takes 5.5 times more than high school graduates!
Sources: Association of Certified Fraud Examiners – Institute for Corporate Productivity – Jack L. hayes International, Inc. – Office Team.
*Applied to the projected 2008 U.S. Gross Domestic Product.
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