69 Of The Most Expensive Fails That Hurt So Bad To Look At, You May Physically Feel It (New Pics)

Workplace mistakes are not only costly, but they can also lead to an adverse company-wide ripple effect. A 2024 report by Siemens revealed that unplanned downtime often results in a 11% revenue decrease, amounting to $1.4 trillion in losses globally. 

For context, $1.4 trillion is almost 100% of Spain’s GDP of that same year. 

The importance of cybersecurity has been underscored in recent years, given the cases of compromised accounts that led to numerous data leaks. However, Proofpoint’s 2024 Voice of the CISO report revealed that 74 percent of data breaches are caused by human error. 

Company payroll isn’t exempt from human error, and yes, these blunders can be very costly. According to a 2024 report by Axiom, 1 in 5 payrolls contain errors, and each mistake costs an average of $291. 

Ernst & Young’s research also found that a company with 1,000 employees could spend nearly $1 million each year correcting payroll errors. 

Mistakes are definitely avoidable, especially those that could leave you in deep debt. Author Dr. Alice Boyes, who specializes in social psychology and cognitive behavioral therapy, shared a few tips. One of them is not to expect to be the exception.

“Search out data about reality versus the best-case scenario,” Dr. Boyes advises. “Plan for what's typical rather than what's ideal. When we assume what usually happens will happen to us, we can often handle those scenarios more smartly.”