Cost of jobseeking

Job-seeking Brits are costing UK businesses more than 5 billion in lost wages each year, according to new research.

More than half of workers admit to searching for other jobs when they should be working - spending on average half an hour each week scouring the ads.

That's more than three working days of each year spent looking for other jobs, according to the survey by video recruitment site www.jobs2view.com.

But it's not just company time Brits use to hunt for that next career step - 48 per cent use their work's internet while a third of the 2,000 workers polled have used an office telephone to enquire about a job.

A cheeky 21 per cent have even filled out a job application form while sat at their desk.

More than a third say boredom drives their work-time job hunting but 37 per cent say their job annoys them so much they just start looking there and then out of anger.

A brave eight per cent are risking losing their jobs anyway as eight per cent say their boss would fire them if they got caught looking for another job.

An understanding 50 per cent of bosses would be more worried about finding out why their employees are so desperate to find a new role while one in five workers don't think their boss would care if they were looking for something else.

But the sneaking around doesn't stop after the application form has been sent off - as 28 per cent have lied to their boss about getting time off work for a job interview.

More than one in ten pull a sickie while a sneaky 16 per cent say they have to leave early for a doctors or dentist appointment.

Only 17 per cent are honest and tell their boss the real reason for needing the time off, booking a day's holiday to cover the interview.

Not everyone gets away with going behind their bosses back though as three per cent of Brits have been spotted by their boss looking for another role while at work.

Another one in 20 have been caught lying to their boss about going for an interview - with four per cent saying their sneaking around got them sacked anyway.

Jon Glas, managing director for www.jobs2view.com, said: ''It's very brazen of Brits to be looking for jobs in their company time and it must be worrying for employers to find out how much time their workers spend job hunting.

''But people need to be careful they don't upset their current employers and harm their job prospects in the process.

''Everyone goes through stages where they think about moving jobs but maybe it's better to do the job hunting in your own time and keep on the right side of your boss - you never know when you might need a good reference.''