Recruiting the wrong employee is costing UK SMEs £69m a year, according to new research.

The research, from job board Jobsite.co.uk, shows that SMEs invest £300m a year in hiring 250,000 employees but 22% of new recruits leave within six months of starting, resulting in SMEs having to pay twice to recruit for a role in a year.

Only 25% of firms use internet jobs boards, but 80% of jobseekers use the internet as their first port of call when looking for a new job.

Keith Potts, managing director of Jobsite.co.uk, said: “For any business, saving time and money is important. This is doubly so for small businesses where these resources are even more limited in supply. Hiring the wrong people is costly and can be seriously detrimental to the productivity – and even the future – of small and medium companies, particularly in the current economic climate.”