Research commissioned by salgadoinvestigations.com indicates that 78 per cent of staff have nabbed something from their employer over the course of their career, potentially costing UK firms over £432 million each year.
Among the things pilfered by workers are laptops, confidential personal data and TVs.
Meanwhile, of the people who reported they have not yet stolen from the firms they work for, 57 per cent admitted they would if they thought they could get away with it.
Commenting on the findings, Jorge Salgado-Reyes, a UK private investigator, stated: "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."
Recent figures produced by Abbey suggested that companies would also have suffered financial losses of around £27 as a result of this year’s St Patrick’s Day festivities, with employees being too hung over to work the next day.
