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Most employees steal from workplace

Dec 21 2010

Most workers think nothing of swiping goods from the office

Over three quarters of employees, or 76 per cent, admit to stealing from their place of work, reports a survey of 370 people by office design company Maris Interiors.

Some 82 per cent of men own up to helping themselves, compared to 71 per cent of female respondents.

The stationery cupboard is worst hit, with pens (60 per cent) and printer paper (42 per cent) the most commonly stolen items. Some 31 per cent of respondents steal stamps, 28 per cent pilfer mugs and 24 per cent of those surveyed stole toilet paper from their workplace.

One in 20 employees have taken more valuable items, including printer toner, laptops, chairs, desks, office plants, filing cabinets and carpet tiles.

Michael Howard, chairman of Maris Interiors, says, ‘We all know that the stationery cupboard suffers a bit but we were extremely surprised that the numbers were quite so high.’

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