19% of staff steal office supplies

Nearly one in five (19 percent) workers report they have taken office supplies for personal use in the past year, according to a recent Spherion Workplace Snapshot survey. Of those who admitted to stealing office supplies, 21 percent felt guilty or regretted the act. In 2006, a similar Spherion survey found that 18 percent of workers reported they had taken office supplies for personal use.

Workers said the primary reason office supplies were taken for personal use was because they needed them (41 percent). Nearly one-third (32 percent) said it was because their boss/office manager said it was alright to do so, and 15 percent claimed the company will never miss them.

The most common types of items taken by workers were pens, pencils or rulers (25 percent) and paper, post-its or file folders (19 percent).

Of the age groups surveyed, younger workers (25 percent between the ages of 18-24 and 29 percent between 25 and 29 years old) were the most likely to have taken office supplies for personal use, while workers aged 65 and older were the least likely (nine percent) to have taken such items for personal use. Further, older workers feel it is wrong to take office supplies for personal use more so than any other age group, with 83 percent saying so.

Further research by UOE found that much of this theft is as a result of open access to stocks in on-site cabinets and cupboards. It was found that when online purchasing by the user replaced bulk general stocking of goods theft was reduced (as was per head expenditure) as over 75% of workers said they were conscious that their boss could see what they were ordering and would spot any over-ordering more easily.