Beware the wrath of the Irish office worker
Half of Irish office workers (47%) would take revenge against a former employer if they were unhappy about losing their job, according to independent research commissioned by Novell, a leading provider of information solutions.
Of those willing to take action 84% would badmouth the company, 26% sign-up their former boss to a X rated mailing list and almost one in ten would sabotage the business’s computer network by deleting files or letting loose a virus.
One in every two former employees (53%) would take advantage of company paid for privileges such as mobile phones, gym memberships, and health insurance if companies failed to cancel payment.
Half of those surveyed said they would forward sensitive company information to a former employee, and worryingly, 13% of people would access their former employer’s computer networks without asking permission.
A similar study carried out in the UK revealed that 79% would forward sensitive company information to a former colleague even if they were working for a rival firm, almost double that of Irish employees.
Although more UK workers would take revenge on a former employer than Irish workers they were less likely to badmouth the company (34%-UK versus 45% - Ireland) preferring tactics such as sending bosses a nasty email (10% versus 2% respectively).
UK workers were also more likely to take contacts (63% versus 32%), customer leads (38% versus 23%) and examples of their best work (67% versus 48%).
