Research was carried out on 1,489 members of the British public by www.HireScores.com, the UK's only recruitment agency review site. 1,235 of those surveyed were currently in employment, whilst 254 said that they were between jobs.
According to the study, 53% of Brits have looked for another job whilst at work during company time at a past or current role.
Of the office workers who looked for a new job during their working day, three quarters, 73%, said they did so as they were bored in their current role, whilst 1 in 4 said that they had already told a close colleague that they were looking to leave. 11% of people said that a colleague or manager had caught them searching for another job.
Members of the public who hailed from London were the most likely to search for a new job from their place of employment, suggesting that they are the region most unhappy with their current employers. Those from the South West were the least likely to job hunt whilst at work with only 17% admitting to having done it.
Here is a top five of the regions that are most likely to look for another job whilst at work, by percentage of residents that said they'd searched for a job whilst at work:
London - 58%
Midlands - 55%
South East - 54%
North West - 52%
South West - 45%
The biggest reason for looking for a new job at work was not having enough time to do it at home, with 49% stating this as the main factor. 1 in 3 said that they were unhappy in their current job.
Of the people who admitted to looking for new jobs whilst at work, two thirds suggested that wanting an increase in salary was the main reason they were looking for a new employer. 42% said the lack of progression at their current role was a factor. Just under 1 in 4, 23% said that they looked whilst at work since this might scare their employers into giving them a pay increase.
Men were most likely to look for a new job whilst at work, with 57% of respondents who admitted to searching for a new job whilst at work being male.
Lisette Howlett, Managing Director of HireScores.com said,
It is always hard to balance the time between your current job and finding a new one, as you have to give plenty of time to both. My advice is to get really organised, do the legwork outside working hours and be very careful to not misuse company resources.
She continued, It is worth thinking about booking off a few days to get the search started, and to go around some recruitment agencies. It is also worth remembering that if your boss finds out that you have been looking using company time and resources they may beat you to the chase, and it is a lot harder to find work when you are out of it.
Finally just to say, if your boss asks if you are looking be prepared to be honest. It may be OK to downplay the extent of your search but do not lie - when you do find a job it will only make leaving harder and you want both a decent reference and potentially the option to return one day. Explain to them why you are looking in a calm and professional manner. Assure them that you are not telling everyone and not using company time or resources.
