Engineering360: "Workplace theft is on the rise"

This article seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill. Yes, I sure there are abuses. Usually those people get caught. But you should see the stuff my company just throws in the trash because people don't want to have to deal with it.

Do I have a couple of company pens at home? I'm sure of it. Am I making a conscious effort to re-supply my home, absolutely not.

Have I brought personal items into work for work purposes? Yes, when it means I don't have to wait for our procurement system get little piddly crap and it helps keep my projects moving along. Over the last year, I have placed several DigiKey orders on my own credit card each for about $20 or less to buy small quantities of prototyping parts because of the aggravation it takes to get electronic parts through our 'global supply chain management" (used to be called purchasing ). All the FAR rules, counterfeit rules, certs of compliance, T's & C's have created a monster of bureaucracy that stifles agile development.

And yes, I've picked out scraps of this and that from the trash here at work for stuff I do at home.

And what about (unpaid) overtime that isn't put on the time card? Is that stealing from the employee?

The key (on both sides) is the difference between incidental and abuse. Very hard to define it but you know it when you see it.

While working for a small company, I went to a seminar. The subject of cost savings came up. The speaker said that if a company is monitoring it's long distance calls, there is something drastically wrong. Trying to control pennies to save hundreds is a sign of failure. I also likely have plant provided pens at home. I'm sure even a couple 6" steel rulers. On the other hand, I have never charged the company for bringing in specialty tools I have at home to complete any project. I have also bought things on my own for my use in the plant.

When you start considering small items such as pens and sticky notes with a grocery list as stealing, then there is something more foreboding happening. Maybe the company should tape spoons or fake flowers to their pens like some stores do. I am sure I have 'stolen' my share of pens when filling out paperwork. Force of habit to put the pen I'm using back in my pocket. Even though I don't realize until later that I didn't start out the day with said pen. And yes, I have even started to put the flower pens in my pocket without thinking if I'm in a hurry.

Let's worry more about the cordless drills, welding helmets, and other expensive items that come up missing. Although some cordless drills come with 'enhanced' chips. One of those was taken back to the Maintenance department after it 'stopped working' in another area. Thankfully it was still in the plant.

What about companies that steal from themselves?

MEETINGS = theft of otherwise productive time

Some meetings are critical to success, but most are not.

I wrote a calculator for a supervisor right on my first job after college that had 2 inputs. The number of people in the room and an average salary estimate. This crude executable then constantly updated the dollar amount every 3 seconds.

It's staggering what a meeting costs