Jobseekers increasingly perform background checks on employers before accepting job offers.

Employees are now more selective about where they work, and will check the financial health of a business before committing to employment, according to research by Huntress Group and 192.com which polled employees identifying what due diligence steps are taken prior to employment.

One in five of those surveyed said they would check to see if a company is financially stable before accepting a job offer, and 1 in 10 haven’t accepted an offer from a business due to a poor financial record. 12 per cent of employees said they were more selective about where they work since the downturn.

Kristen Zeilerbauer, Managing Director of Huntress Group’s technology division said: "As we recover from the recession, financial stability is not just a concern for organisations. Workers want to know they are finding stable and challenging employment. Highly skilled professionals can be even more selective about where they want to work."

Other key findings

• 59 per cent would refuse work from a company with an unfavourable Company Credit Report (this report provides a snapshot of the financial health of a business and expose County Court Judgements - legal judgements that a company failed to pay a debt);

• 64 percent are particularly concerned about businesses with County Court Judgments;

• Over half would be deterred by a company with a high turn-over of Company Directors;

• 75 per cent of employees prefer a good salary over favourable benefits.

• 29 per cent of the job seekers said that throughout their careers they had worked for a company that had since gone bust.

The poll quizzed 2000 employees across the country. The majority of respondents worked in IT 33%, Accountancy or Finance 25% and Sales 12%.