According to Survey Over Half of American Workers Have Taken Data When Leaving Their Employers

This “daily chart” showing  “Over Half of American Workers Surveyed Have Taken Data When Leaving Their Employers | Employers Beware” (The Economist 2/24/2009) intrigued me for a couple of reasons. First, there is that “Gee, this is good cocktail party information” (not that I actually go to cocktail parties). But foremost is the all-white male line-up used in the photo to depict what seem to be disgruntled “departing employees.” Does this mean that only members of this demographics go home with company stuff ? Or is this some sexist and racist commentary on the make-up of the US workforce? Or were these the only people who showed up with a nice suit and briefcase for the photo-shoot? Or was this the best  stock photo their graphics department could buy within the budget? Or…

According to the The Economist,

IF YOU are losing your job, you might at least walk away with a competitive advantage. A survey for Symantec, an internet-security firm, suggests that some 60% of American workers who left their employers last year took some data with them. Respondents admitted that they had lifted anything from e-mail lists to customer information, with two-thirds of such workers using this stolen data in their new job. The most popular method of theft was taking hard-copy files (61%), while around half put data on an electronic-storage device such as a CD or USB stick. And it seems easy to do: 82% of departing employees said that no checks were carried out on what they had kept. Many also admitted to keeping electronic-storage devices given for their jobs, even PDAs and laptops.