Biz Features

Office Theft Statistics [INFOGRAPHIC]

by . July 31st, 2015

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:

employee-theft-statistics

 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%.
  • $1,000 – $9,999 – 7.0%.
  • >$1.000 – 1.9%.
  • Median = $175.000.

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!
  • Some college – 21%.
  • Bachelor’s degree – 34%.

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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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Arthur Piccio manages YouTheEntrepreneur and has managed content for major players in the online printing industry. He was previously BizSugar's contributor of the week. His work has appeared multiple times on The New York Times' You're the Boss Small Business Blog. He enjoys guitar maintenance and reading up on history and psychology in his spare time.