Job-seeking Brits are costing UK businesses 7 BILLION in lost wages every year

Job-seeking Brits are costing UK businesses 7 BILLION in lost wages every year, according to new research.

More than half of Brits admit using work time to search for a new job ñ spending an average of 45 minutes scouring ads each week.

That adds up to almost five working days of every year wasted.

One in three people has used the telephone on their desk to inquire about new jobs and half of those polled said they used their office computer to search employment websites.

One in five said they had filled out application forms while sitting at their desks.

A spokesman for job search engine foundem.co.uk, which carried out the study, said: ëíIt is astonishing the amount of time we spend as a nation looking for new jobs.

íWe found that more than half the people we surveyed said they considered the hunt for a new job to a full-time job in itself, so itís not surprising that the search encroaches on work time.

íOur service allows job-hunters to search all the leading job portals simultaneously at the click of a button, which saves a lot of the legwork.í

The study also found 31 per cent use their office telephone for their job search and one in five even fill out application forms while at their desk.

And while 30 per cent say the main reason for job hunting under the bossí nose is boredom, more than a quarter turn to the job ads because they get so annoyed while at work.

It doesnít stop with job hunting either as 12 per cent of workers have pulled a sickie to get time off for an interview while another 17 per cent have pretended to have a doctors or dentist appointment.

Eight per cent of these cheeky Brits have been caught out by their boss though with five per cent getting a warning and seven per cent even sacked because of it.

The lying doesnít end there though as a quarter of the 4,000 Brits polled admit to lying when applying for a new job.

Almost 12 per cent lie about their current responsibilities and ten per cent stretch the truth about their salary.

Another 11 per cent have also made up reasons for leaving previous roles.

The poll also found that the average Brit will apply for 19 roles, go on 12 interviews and have nine different jobs in their lifetimes.