Having a flexible labour force has increased the amount of in-company fraud because staff feel less loyal to their firm, according to new research by Hoffman Bedrijsrecherche.

In total, almost 11% of the 1,500 companies investigated by Hoffman suffered some form of in-company fraud.

The most common forms of fraud include people lying about the number of hours they have worked, sending fake bills with their own bank accounts and stealing sensitive information to start their own companies or sell, Hoffman said.

‘People don’t know if their contracts will be renewed and it would appear that youngsters in particular are more inclined to commit fraud if they know they won’t be re-hired,’ Hoffman director Richard Franken said in Wednesday’s Financieele Dagblad. ‘Frustration will doubtless play a part, but employers really must do something about this.’

One notable trend is the rise in women workers stealing from their firm. Women now account for almost 30% on in-company fraud, compared with 11% in 2007. While the increase is partly due to the rise in the number of working women, women are also more likely to admit they stole because of financial problems,’ Franken said.

Hoffman bases its research on 2,200 suspects who had each stolen cash, goods or information valued at at least €10,000. Amsterdam’s VU university was involved in the research, the FD says.