Over half of recruiters have admitted to surveying and considering any information posted online about a potential or future employee, it has emerged.

In a poll led by UK recruitment website Experteer.co.uk, it was understood that IT workers in particular were targeted by online research, with most IT support warned by employers that unprofessional internet postings would be taken into account, IT Pro reported.

The company found that 86 per cent admitted to looking into candidates' background while 49 per cent were googling future interviewees.

Speaking to IT Pro, one anecdotal experience was put forward by an employer who used Facebook to track the CV submitter's mischievous dealings.

He said: "They had even slated their previous employer on Facebook and it showed they logged in for hours at a time during their working day."

Last week, computing giant Hewlett-Packard cut 3,000 jobs in an attempt to cut back on spending after taking over Electronic Data Systems in May.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support, London based Connect conducted the research in 2007.