Employee Theft Statistics 2024 By Demographics And Country

Introduction

Contents

Introduction
Editor’s Choice
General Employee Theft Statistic
Types of Employee Theft Statistics
Stolen Amount Statistics by Theft Type
Employee Theft Demographics Statistics
By Education Level
Employee Theft Statistics By Country
Cost of Employee Theft Statistics By Top Industries
Employee Time Theft Statistics
Employee Data Theft Statistics
Tools For Employee Theft Prevention and Detection
Reason for Employee Theft Statistics
Ways To Prevent Employee Theft In 2024
Conclusion

Employee Theft Statistics: Employee theft is a situation where employees steal money, items, or information from their workplace without permission. This article includes detailed analyses of employee theft from different insights from recent years. There are several reasons for theft, such as personal struggles, low job satisfaction, or a lack of strict company rules.

Thus, businesses need to recognize the warning signs of theft, such as missing inventory or unusual behavior, to address the issue quickly. To prevent such thefts, building a positive work environment should be a primary requirement, along with maintaining clear policies and conducting regular checks can help prevent theft. By taking these steps, companies can protect their assets and foster a culture of honesty and accountability among employees.

Editor’s Choice

Employee Theft Statistics show that 75% of employees have stolen from their employer at least once.

(Source: embroker.com)

Employee theft costs in the United States businesses approximately USD 50 billion annually.
The cost of employee theft increases by 15% each year, continuing to rise steadily.
More than 30% of business bankruptcies are attributed to employee theft.
Meanwhile, around 95% of businesses encounter issues related to employee theft.
The average loss per employee fraud case is USD 1.7 million.
In contrast, 57% of fraud incidents involve company insiders or a combination of insiders and outsiders.
Employee Theft Statistics In 2024, employees committed around 43% of fraud cases, causing over USD 100 million in losses.
On the other hand, almost 22% of small business owners have experienced theft by their employees. Company insiders cause 20% of data breaches.
About two-thirds of embezzlement cases are uncovered by coworkers noticing suspicious activities or behavior.

General Employee Theft Statistic

In global companies, insiders commit 37% of fraud, with middle managers responsible 34%, operations staff 31%, and senior managers 26% of the time.

(Source: vpnalert.com)

4% of employees took sensitive data from their companies within six months, with an additional 2.5% doing so each month after.
Although investigating fraud benefits 60% of companies, nearly half of organizations still fail to investigate.
Asset misappropriation is involved in 86% of employee theft cases, making it the most common type.
Corruption is linked to around 50% of employee theft cases, contributing to the overall issue.
Employee Theft Statistics also show that financial statement fraud accounts for just 9% of cases, and it causes the greatest financial damage.
As of 2024, only 5% of theft cases involve corruption, asset misappropriation, and financial statement fraud.
Although most cases involve one type of theft, 40% of offenders use multiple fraud methods.
32% of cases involve both asset misappropriation and corruption, while 2% include financial statement fraud.
In recent years, fraudulent activities lasting over 60 months made up 6% of cases, with median losses of USD 800,000.
In 39% of employee theft cases, the offender made fake physical documents to hide their actions.
Employee Theft Statistic in 2024 reports that managers commit 39% of fraud, causing a median loss of USD 125,000, while employees cause 37%.
Although owners and executives represent 23% of fraud cases, they cause median losses of USD 337,000.
Verizon reports that an average employee data breach affects 375,000 files, which is much higher than the 30,000 files affected by external breaches.

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Types of Employee Theft Statistics

Asset misappropriation, such as stealing cash or inventory, accounts for 89% of fraud cases, with losses averaging USD 120,000.
Billing Fraud: In about 18% of fraud cases, employees create fake invoices or inflate real ones to steal money.
Payroll Fraud: “Buddy punching,” where employees clock in for others, causes inflated payroll costs in 75% of U.S. businesses.
Employees often submit fake or exaggerated expense claims to gain personal benefits, which is common in many industries.
Time theft happens when employees waste time on personal activities, affecting 75% of U.S. businesses.
Data Theft: In 2022, 44,834 employees were arrested for stealing company data or sensitive information for personal gain.

Stolen Amount Statistics by Theft Type

(Reference: zippia.com)

Employee Theft Statistics also show that financial statement fraud had the biggest impact, causing a monthly loss of USD 39,800.
Furthermore, corruption amounts to USD 11,100, while noncash theft is USD 6,000.
Other are followed by check and payment tampering costs of USD 4,600, and billing fraud totals USD 4,200.

Employee Theft Demographics Statistics

As mentioned in the Employee Theft Statistic, in 2024, men accounted for 73% of fraud cases, with the median age of offenders being 48.
In the finance and insurance sector, most thefts are committed by full-time employees in their 20s and 30s.
Employee Theft Statistics for 2024 also report that around 34% of millennials think it’s acceptable to steal from their employers.
Both insiders and outsiders commit 57% of theft cases, with educated employees causing higher losses.
Additionally, 39% of occupational theft cases were committed by managers, followed by 37% (staff) and 23% (executives).
Operations, accounting, sales, and executive management make up 45% of all employee theft cases.

By Education Level

(Reference: jobera.com)

By the end of 2023, almost 30% of university degree holders will account for the highest share of employee theft.
Others are HS diploma or below employees, who made up 22%, and postgraduate degree holders, who made up 15%.

Employee Theft Statistics By Country

Each year, employee theft costs U.S. businesses around USD 50 billion, with 75% of employees involved.
Further reports show that from 2023 to 2024, there were around 6,244 reported cases of employee theft in England and Wales.
In Canada, employee theft makes up 18.4% of retail losses, with each theft averaging USD 1,289.
In Australia and New Zealand, employee theft makes up 24% of retail crime, averaging USD 1,200 lost per person.
In 2022, employee theft incidents in Japan rose by 15.6% compared to the previous year.

Cost of Employee Theft Statistics By Top Industries

Worldwide, employee theft causes financial damage of USD 4.7 trillion every year.
The mining sector experiences the highest median loss per incident at USD 550,000, totaling approximately USD 1.1 billion (10%) in 2024.

Furthermore, other sector’s financial losses due to employee thefts are detailed below in the table during the same period:

Industry	Median Loss per Incident (USD)	Total Losses (USD million)	Losses Share
Wholesale Trade	361,000	722	6.5%
Manufacturing	267,000	53	4.8%
Construction	250,000	500	4.5%
Real Estate	200,000	400	3.6%
Government	200,000	400	3.6%
Private and Public Companies	150,000	300	2.7%
Non-Profit	76,000	152	1.4%

Employee Time Theft Statistics

In 2024, employers lose approximately 4.5 hours per week for every employee due to time theft.
A quarter of people confess to reporting more hours than they worked.
Buddy punching, a common type of employee time theft, causes 75% of companies to lose money.
Time theft can happen through late arrivals, leaving early, long breaks, unapproved overtime, or personal tasks.

Employee Data Theft Statistics

80% of cybersecurity leaders acknowledge that departing employees often take valuable intellectual property with them.
In the past year, 55% of insider data incidents, like leaks or thefts, were intentional.
On average, there were 24 insider-related data breaches, leaks, and thefts every month.
Cybersecurity experts believe that a single insider data breach can cost a company around USD 15 million.
Employee Theft Statistics from 2021 to 2024, insider data exposure, loss, leak, and employee theft events rose by 28%.
IT leaders think 55% of data loss, leaks, and theft in 2023-2024 were deliberate.
A survey of 100 security leaders found that 91% think employees might steal data via mobile devices.

Tools For Employee Theft Prevention and Detection

The top five systems for preventing employee theft are burglar alarms, used by 92.1% of businesses, digital video records (84.1%), armored car deposit pickups (68.3%), POS data mining (65.1%), and live customer-visible CCTV (61.9%).
In one-third of cases, whistleblowers used phone hotlines and emails to report the issues.
According to retail theft statistics, 52% of businesses are investing in more technology, 36% are increasing prevention budgets, and 30% are hiring more loss prevention staff.

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Reason for Employee Theft Statistics

Reason	Share
Faced internal discipline from the organization	80%
Motivated by money	71%
Improve living standards	42%
HR-related red flags	40%
Sold secrets to known customer	19%
Negative reviews	14%
Fear of job loss	13%

Ways To Prevent Employee Theft In 2024

Implement Comprehensive Hiring Practices: Conduct thorough background checks, including criminal history and employment verification, to ensure candidates have a history of integrity.
Establishing Policies and Procedures: Develop and communicate explicit policies regarding acceptable behavior and the consequences of theft.
Utilize Surveillance Systems: Install CCTV cameras in strategic locations to monitor all activities and deter potential theft.
Conduct Regular Audits and Inventories: Perform routine checks to identify discrepancies and detect theft early.
Promote a Positive Workplace Culture: Foster an environment where employees feel valued and respected.

Conclusion

Employee theft is a serious issue that affects businesses of all sizes. To prevent it, companies should build a culture of trust and honesty, use proper security measures, and set clear policies. Modern businesses and organizations should train employees to understand the impact of theft and create opportunities for communication, which can also help. Regularly monitoring inventory and financial records is important to catch any problems early.

By taking these steps, businesses can reduce theft and create a safe, ethical, and productive workplace for everyone.

Employee Theft Statistics By Types, Demographics, Education Level, Country, Prevention And Detection