By Sasha Glasgow?
Theft in the workplace could potentially cost companies as much as ?432m.
?A leading private investigator has found that more than three quarters of workers have stolen from their current or previous places of work.
Company goods taken include laptops, confidential personal data, TVs, and even an office pet in one case. It is also clear that very few measures are in place across companies to prevent theft from happening.
Recent anonymous online research of 1?476 British people has found that 78% have stolen from their place of work at some point in their lives.
The research stipulated that office stationary did not count, and the average was bunked up by many claiming that they have stolen more than ?5000 worth of goods. The average for an individual was ?920.
?Those who denied pilfering from work however are certainly no angels, as 57% of people who haven?t yet stolen from a place of work said that they would if they thought that they could get away with it.
Jorge Salgado-Reyes, a leading UK Private Investigator said: ?In my line of work, you get used to shocking stories and facts, but these stats make for pretty scary reading. Companies are doing little to stop thefts of these kinds, with very few having deterrents such as monitored CCTV or robust asset management systems in place.
“The theft of confidential personal data has been in the media eye recently and for good reason ? more and more companies are securing the services of Private Investigators like me to detect people committing often large-scale criminal acts of these kinds.
?It just goes to show that in today?s Britain, you really don?t know who you can trust.?
