New research from the job site Monster suggests that employees who actively search for jobs while at work collectively spend up to 14 million hours a week in the UK.  Their job searches are costing their employers around £250 million per year. 

The employees surveyed admitted updating their CVs, accessing and searching online job sites and even participating in telephone interviews – all in work time.  As a result, 2% had been fired for looking for jobs while at work. 

I’ve often heard people say that it’s easier to look for a job while you’re already in work but I’m guessing they don’t mean that you should literally carry out your job search while physically at work.  What makes you think you won’t get caught? 

Looking for a new job while still at work is equivalent to looking for a new partner while you’re still with the existing one.  It’s the easy way out because you don’t actually have to talk about how and why the relationship has broken down.  If you wouldn’t do that to your other half, why do that to your boss or employer?  If you’ve tried communicating with them and it hasn’t worked then it’s still not an excuse to look for their replacement in front of their noses.