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The State of Workplace Theft in 2025
Two out of three workers admit to stealing time, supplies, and more, which cost companies billions of dollars annually.
Table of Contents
Workplace or employee theft manifests in various forms, some more subtle than others – from fudging timecards and taking naps to outright shoplifting or embezzlement of company funds. Collectively, these practices add up to staggering corporate losses: employees cause over $30B of retail shrinkage each year, while occupational fraud claims five percent of corporate revenue.
To assess the scale and scope of workplace theft in 2025, Business.com surveyed 1,000 workers of all kinds. We delved into which kinds of theft are most prevalent, what factors contribute to the practices, and how often perpetrators were caught and punished on the job.
Key Findings:
- 67% of employees have committed at least one type of theft at their current job, and 41 percent have stolen from their employers in more ways than one.
- Most American workers (54%) admit to tackling personal tasks during company time. The most common tasks include cooking, cleaning, or laundry.
- 27% admit to stealing company supplies. The most commonly pilfered products are items like pens, paper, paper clips, and folders.
- Only 6% have stolen money or merchandise from their current employers, and over one in 10 workers have slept on the job.
- Managers were twice as likely to steal money from their employers compared to non-managers.
- About 24% of workers overreport or otherwise manipulate the number of hours they work, resulting in an average of 4.5 hours per week of stolen time.
What Are Workers Stealing from Their Jobs?
Employee theft is a blanket term encompassing a wide array of misconduct. From a worker’s perspective, certain transgressions may seem minimal, acceptable, justifiable, or hardly a violation at all. From a business standpoint, every lost hour, dollar, or item equals a bottom-line dent.
For this report, we inquired about all manner of theft—from surfing the web on company time to commandeering supplies and equipment to giving away discounted services or simply stealing cash. Given those parameters, a staggering two out of three employees admitted having stolen from their current workplace.
Types of theft committed at current workplace | Percent of workers |
|---|---|
Performing personal tasks while on the clock | 54% |
Regularly taking longer breaks than allowed | 19% |
Using a company printer for more than a handful of personal papers | 18% |
Taking company supplies | 14% |
Taking time off in an unapproved manner (such as calling in sick when not ill, if not allowed) | 13% |
Sleeping on the job | 11% |
Reporting more hours than actually worked | 7% |
Asking another employee to clock in or out on your behalf | 3% |
Offering customers an unauthorized discount or free service | 3% |
Driving a company vehicle for personal purposes w/o authorization | 3% |
Taking products intended for sale | 1% |
Using company funds for personal expenses | 1% |
Accepting cash from customers without recording a sale | 1% |
Submitting a fake or fraudulent expense report | 1% |
Taking sensitive company information such as trade secrets or customer data | 1% |
Creating a fake transaction to earn a commission | 1% |
Processing a fake refund and kept the money | 1% |
Stolen company money (i.e. from a cash register or bank account) | <1% |
None of the above | 33% |
Two or more of the above | 41% |
Note: Multiple responses allowed
The most common type of employee theft involved performing personal tasks during company time. In an age of myriad internet distractions, smartphones close at hand, and much of the workforce logged in from home, it’s little wonder that more than half of employees admitted to this practice. The most common types of personal tasks performed on the job were:
- Completing household chores: Those working from home, particularly, mentioned doing household chores such as laundry, cooking, or cleaning during work hours.
- Making personal phone calls and appointments: A number of respondents indicated that they have taken personal phone calls while on the clock, often for healthcare reasons or to handle urgent family matters.
- Browsing the internet and using personal devices: Several individuals mentioned using work time to check personal emails, browse social media, make online purchases, or conduct personal research.
- Running errands: Some respondents noted that they run personal errands, such as going to the bank or grocery shopping, during work hours, occasionally using a company vehicle for these tasks.
- Organizing personal finances: A few respondents mentioned paying bills or handling other personal financial tasks during work hours.
Around 24 percent of workers admitted to overreporting hours on their timecards, extending their break times, or asking other employees to falsify their time cards. We found that these workers added an average of 4.5 hours per week to their timecards that they did not actually work. Over a year, that adds over nine billion fraudulent person-hours to employer accounts.
Direct financial theft was less rampant than time theft. Roughly one-quarter of workers improperly used company supplies, equipment, or vehicles, while far fewer confessed to directly pilfering money, goods, or services. Fewer than one percent of workers admitted to stealing cash directly from their current employer. These were the types of goods pilfered most often from workplaces:
- Pens and writing supplies, including notepads and markers
- Printer paper and ink: Respondents frequently mentioned using the office printer for personal documents and taking printer paper.
- Office supplies like sticky notes, paper clips, and folders
- Batteries
- Toiletries, including toilet paper and tissue paper.
- Kitchen items, like plates and utensils
Other more unusual stolen items included frozen slushies, label making machines, boxcutters, and medical gloves.
Which Employees Are Most Likely to Commit Workplace Theft?
By examining different groups of workers, we discovered some interesting patterns about workplace theft. Factors like a person’s age, how long they’ve worked somewhere, their salary, job role, and how happy they are at work all play a role in whether someone might steal from their employer. What surprised us most was that employees who seemed most trusted and secure in their jobs were actually more likely to commit fraud.
The likelihood of theft from a current employer steadily declines as workers age. Generation Z employees are the newest to the workforce and were 18 percentage points more likely to commit theft in the workplace than Baby Boomers. Millennial workers were nearly equally as likely as their Gen Z counterparts to steal at work. Since our definition of workplace theft includes time theft, younger workers may have admitted using social media or phones on the job more readily than their elders.
Though younger workers were more likely to commit workplace theft, newer hires tended to be on their best behavior. Those on the job for less than one year are the least likely offenders. Employees vested for one to 10 years perpetrated the most theft at their current firms. After 10 years of tenure, that proclivity dips – perhaps evidence of employee loyalty or a testament to workplaces weeding out less honest personnel.
Isolating income as a contributing factor to occupational theft reveals a counter-intuitive result: lower-income workers perpetrate less theft than higher-paid staff.
Workers who earn less might feel more tempted to steal because they need money but also have more to lose. They depend on each paycheck and can be quickly fired and replaced. They also may be more likely to work in highly supervised roles. In contrast, higher-paid employees might work more often in remote or flexible roles and thus have more opportunities to complete personal tasks on the clock or overreport their hours.
Our research showed that workers with more stable jobs are likelier to steal from their employers. People with full-time jobs, those earning a salary, and managers are likelier to commit workplace theft. Interestingly, it didn’t matter whether employees worked in the office or remotely—the chance of stealing was about the same for both groups.
Full-time and salaried workers were likelier to commit workplace theft overall, but less likely to steal money or physical items. However, managers were twice as likely to steal money from their employers than other employees. This might be because they have easier access to financial accounts and less supervision. Our research also found that government workers stole about as often as employees in non-profit and for-profit companies.
The best way to predict if someone might steal is to look at how they feel about their job. Workers who are unhappy at work are much more likely to commit theft than those who enjoy their jobs. It’s reasonable to deduce that those who disdain their jobs might lack allegiance to an employer. They may also feel undervalued or less concerned about losing their positions.
Why Do Employees Steal From Their Jobs?
Now that we know how many workers steal on the job, let’s explore why they do it. Workers describing the circumstances of their occupational thefts provided a wide range of explanations. Some motives were straightforward, others more convoluted, and several were unique or personal. However, they tended to fall into one of the following general categories.
To settle a score: Workers often justified thefts as recompense against employers, saying they were underpaid, underappreciated, or overworked for their income level. Though employers sometimes literally steal wages (perhaps denying overtime or seizing tips), unfair pay is often a worker’s perception. One respondent admitted to “pocketing money because I’m grossly underpaid.” Others claimed to be “evening out” unpaid wages or bonuses unjustly denied. One worker who bemoaned low pay and limited advancement opportunities quipped that they were “acting their wage” when settling the score by overreporting hours.
To share discounts or help struggling patrons: Many workers provided unapproved discounts to friends, family, regular clients, first responders, or patrons who lacked sufficient funds for a transaction. While admitting that such actions were technically transgressions that cost their company revenue, most saw them as minor offenses that were the right thing to do and could generate goodwill for their employer in the long run.
To improve mental health or work-life balance: Workers admitting occupational fraud often cited exigent conditions driving their deception. Many misreported hours or blurred lines between personal/professional time because workplace demands hampered their work-life balance. “I desperately needed a mental health day, so I called in sick when I wasn’t,” said one. Others referenced exhaustion, emergencies, medical situations, or family needs as reasons they abused sick days, slept on the job, or asked others to punch their timecards.
To handle personal tasks: Remote employees frequently referenced that working from home distorted their balance of responsibilities. “Working remotely supplies the freedom to do personal things on company time,” said one respondent, “I can do chores, shop, see the doctor, pick up my kids, even make love to my wife during business hours.” He added, “My boss doesn’t care because I also do my work.” This qualifier was a common refrain among remote workers — they claimed to unertake personal tasks during downtime while waiting for work, feedback, or processing while ultimately satisfying assigned goals.
In response to poor workplace culture: Lax corporate cultures and minimal supervision create ecosystems where theft occurs without fear of condemnation or repercussions. Some workers rationalize their behavior by noting colleagues – and even management – get away with the same fraudulent practices. “I had no nefarious intent,” said one worker who admitted to taking long breaks, unauthorized days off, and using employer time/resources for personal pursuits, “No one was watching, and my bosses didn’t care because they were doing the same things…so I did too. Because I could.” Another admitted, “Like other employees, I take longer lunch breaks, and the boss doesn’t usually complain.”
Conclusion
Business leaders might want tougher rules and harder punishments for employees who steal. But our research shows that keeping workers happy is actually the simplest way to prevent theft. Our research also found that younger employees with higher salaries, longer job experience, and management positions are more likely to commit theft at work.
On the other hand, labor advocates might call for greater protections and better working conditions as a remedy against employee theft. Fair pay, fair hours, and manageable workloads would eliminate most of the motives for fraud; allowing workers to protect mental health, maintain a work-life balance, and find satisfaction with just compensation.
Methodology
In February of 2025, Business.com conducted an online poll of 1,000 adult American workers. The pool was evenly divided between men and women. Twenty-one percent were under age 30, 25 percent were 30-44, 25 percent were 45-59, and 29 percent were 60 or older. Forty-one percent made less than $50K annually, 39 percent earned between $50-100K, and 19 percent had income over $100K. Eighty-two percent worked full-time, 51 percent were in salaried positions, and 40 percent held management roles. Fifty-one percent work primarily on-site, 21 percent are mostly remote, and 28 percent have hybrid accommodations.