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WANTED: One-in-Five U.S. Workers for Taking Office Supplies for Personal Use
Spherion Survey Also Finds One-Fifth of Workers Felt Guilty or Regretted the Act

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 18, 2007 – Nearly one-in-five (19 percent) workers report they have taken office supplies for personal use in the past year, according to a recent Spherion® Workplace Snapshot survey. Of those who admitted to stealing office supplies, 21 percent felt guilty or regretted the act. In 2006, a similar Spherion survey found that 18 percent of workers reported they had taken office supplies for personal use.

Workers said the primary reason office supplies were taken for personal use was because they needed them (41 percent). Nearly one-third (32 percent) said it was because their boss/office manager said it was alright to do so, and 15 percent claimed the company will never miss them. The most common types of items taken by workers were pens, pencils or rulers (25 percent) and paper, post-its or file folders (19 percent).
 
Workers earning more than $75,000 annually were the most likely to have taken office supplies for personal use. Nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of these workers admitted to taking office supplies compared to only 11 percent of workers earning $15,000 - $34,999 annually.

Of the age groups surveyed, younger workers (25 percent between the ages of 18-24 and 29 percent  between 25 and 29 years old) were the most likely to have taken office supplies for personal use, while workers aged 65 and older were the least likely (nine percent) to have taken such items for personal use. Further, older workers feel it is wrong to take office supplies for personal use more so than any other age group, with 83 percent saying so.

About the Spherion Workplace Snapshot
As part of the Spherion Emerging Workforce® Series of employment surveys, the monthly Spherion Workplace Snapshot provides workers' perspectives on a wide range of issues affecting them in the workplace. Topics include burnout, office parties, supervisor relationships and workplace romance.

Methodology
The May 2007 Spherion® Workplace Snapshot is based on data from the Harris Interactive® QuickQuerySM online omnibus conducted monthly by Harris Interactive on behalf of Spherion Corporation. A U.S. sample of 2,137 employed adults, aged 18 years and older, was interviewed in a poll conducted May 7-9, 2007. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, income, education and region were weighted where necessary to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting adjusted for respondents' propensity to be online.

With pure probability samples, with 100 percent response rates, it is possible to calculate the probability that the sampling error (but not other sources of error) is not greater than some number. With a pure probability sample of 2,137 U.S. employed adults one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- two percentage points. However, that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
 
About Spherion
Spherion Corporation (NYSE:SFN) is a leading recruiting and staffing company that provides integrated solutions to meet the evolving needs of companies and job candidates. As an industry pioneer for 60 years, Spherion has screened and placed millions of individuals in temporary, temp-to-hire and full-time jobs. Positions range from administrative and light industrial to a host of professions that include accounting/finance, information technology, engineering, manufacturing, legal, human resources and sales/marketing.
 
With approximately 650 locations in the United States and Canada, Spherion delivers innovative workforce solutions that improve business performance. Spherion provides its services to more than 8,000 customers, from Fortune 500 companies to a wide range of small and mid-size organizations. Employing nearly 300,000 people annually through its network, Spherion is one of North America’s largest employers. To learn more, visit www.spherion.com. For up-to-date career tips and trends, visit Spherion’s career blog, The Big TimeSM, at www.spherion.com/careerblog.
 
 About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is the 12th largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company provides innovative research, insights and strategic advice to help its clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods. The company has built what it believes to be the world’s largest panel of survey respondents, the Harris Poll Online. Harris Interactive serves clients worldwide through its United States, Europe and Asia offices, its wholly-owned subsidiaries Novatris in France and MediaTransfer AG in Germany, and through a global network of independent market research firms. More information about Harris Interactive may be obtained at www.harrisinteractive.com.

StealingOfficeSupplies_June07_PDF
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Lesly Cardec

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leslycardec@sfngroup.com

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