Nearly one-fifth of workers (19%) say they stole office supplies from work for personal use in the past year, according to a Spherion® Workplace Snapshot Survey.
I’m surprised it’s not higher. I heard someone say at a party this weekend, “Why use my dot matrix printer at home, when I can use the laser printer at work?” And to get myself to that same party, I used a map that I printed at work last week.
Only 22% of those who stole said they felt guilty about it, despite 74% saying that it’s wrong to take office supplies for personal use.
Pocketing a paper clip here and a pen there doesn’t seem harmful, but it could affect the company’s bottom line. “Office supplies can be one of the largest expenses for businesses; and certainly employees’ abuse of those supplies, either by stealing them or using them for personal use, can erode company profits,” said John Heins, chief human resources officer at Spherion.
The blurring of our personal and professional lives could be a factor (or excuse) in all this, but I’m feeling a little guilty now about that map (and recipe) I printed last week.
