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UK business risking £2 billion from CV ‘swindlers’

~ cost of recruitment errors revealed as NorthgateArinso launches new service to stop ‘bad recruitment’ ~

June 18, 2008

UK businesses risk wasting up to £2 billion every year recruiting employees who have omitted important information from CVs, according to new figures from NorthgateArinso.

NorthgateArinso has found that 5 per cent of job seekers are rejected because of potentially damaging information that would not normally be discovered through typical background checks. This five per cent, multiplied by the average cost of recruitment and the volume of recruitment in the UK, equals a potential cost of £2 billion every year .

The figures have been unveiled at the launch of a new service from NorthgateArinso, enabling employers to make thorough checks of CVs and candidate references. NorthgateArinso PeopleChecking can (with the permission of the candidate) verify employment history, academic qualifications and professional memberships, as well as financial and criminal records and driving licence endorsements. This allows employers to avoid the cost of recruitment errors and time-consuming reference checks.

According to MORI, 33 per cent of organisations claim they don’t have time to check employee references. In the same survey, 7.5 million people in the UK admitted to having potentially misleading information on their CVs.

“The fact that employees are still bluffing on CVs, and employers are still failing to check their facts underlines the need for better background checks,” said George Elkington, director of business development at NorthgateArinso PeopleChecking. “The cost of a good background check could be just £50, which as we’ve seen is very low compared to the cost of recruiting the wrong person.”

PeopleChecking saves employers’ time by using web-based systems and workflow technology to streamline the referencing process. The service is based on NorthgateArinso’s technology platform, and has been launched following the company’s acquisition of AST Check, completed this month.

“British businesses can’t afford to waste this much money in the current economic climate,” Elkington concluded. “The scale of potential wasted cash is huge – in fact it’s double the entire seasonal wage packet for the English Premier League football teams.”
(341 words)

About the company

NOTES TO EDITORS
About NorthgateArinso
www.northgatearinso.co.uk

NorthgateArinso is a leading global Human Resources software & services provider offering innovative HR business solutions to employers of all sizes, including Global Fortune 500 companies and many Public Sector organisations. We help HR executives optimise their HR service delivery through smarter process and more efficient technology, supporting key HR areas like workforce administration, payroll, benefits, recruitment, learning, and talent management.

Our 4,500 employees are dedicated to HR excellence through strategic business consulting, outsourcing services, systems integration and best-of-breed software solutions. We are one of the 5 largest HR service providers world wide and have offices in 31 countries on 5 continents.

The Northgate Group is owned by private equity company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and currently employs over 6,500 staff and operates in 46 countries across 5 continents.

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UK business risking £2 billion from CV ‘swindlers’

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