Almost half (49%) of employees lie at work in order to hide mistakes (34%) and avoid getting into trouble (44%), a survey of workers has found.

The survey also found many employees lied so as not to “stand out” in the office. Two in five (40%) lied because it was “easier to agree with the majority,” and almost a quarter (24%) said they lied because their boss or colleagues did not “like to hear diverse opinions”.

Nearly a fifth (17%) said they lied at work because they did not like giving honest feedback to colleagues.

Joe Wiggins, Director of Corporate Communications at Glassdoor, said it was concerning so many admitted to lying at work:

“It also begs the question: are enough employers encouraging an environment where people feel comfortable with transparency? If there is a culture of peer pressure or an environment where diversity of thought is not valued and nurtured, this leads to people masking their true feelings, which could lead to more systemic deceptions as well as bias.”

The poll found 22% of employees thought lying at work was acceptable, while 39% felt lying was commonplace where they worked. Three-quarters (75%) believed that saying what they really thought could get them in trouble, and 56% admitted to hiding their true feelings at work.

According to the survey, 75% of employees valued authenticity at work, but only 54% felt their employer valued this attribute among workers. Similarly, 72% said authenticity at work created a strong culture, and 77% said it built better relationships with colleagues and customers.