On average, at least half of all new hires “don’t work out,” according to Fortune.

During the past three years, nearly 40 percent of human resources professionals reported an increase in the amount of time they spent on reference checking, according to the 2005 Reference Checking Survey released by the Society of Human Resources Management.

Nine percent of job applicants lied about college degrees, listed false employers or said they held jobs that didn’t exist, according to Resume Inflation: Two Wrongs May Mean No Rights.

Thirty percent of all business failures are caused by employee theft, according to the American Management Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

According to the Workplace Violence Institute, negligent hiring costs U.S. businesses more than $18 billion annually.

The average award in a workplace violence lawsuit is more than $1 million per case, according to the Workplace Violence Research Institute.

According to an article on MSNBC.com, national criminal records databases have a 41 percent error rate.

Nearly 33 percent of job applicants list employment dates that are inaccurate by three months or more.

Nearly 10 percent of job applicants have a criminal record.

Thirty-three percent of all applicants admit to being tempted to steal from an employer, according to Security Magazine.

On-the-job violence costs employers $36 billion each year, according to the Workplace Violence Research Institute.

According to The Wall Street Journal, 34 percent of all applications contain outright lies about experience, education and ability to perform essential job functions.

According to Recruiting Times, it costs $7,000 to replace a salaried employee, $10,000 to replace a mid-level employee and $40,000 to replace a senior executive.

As many as 30 percent of job seekers exaggerate their accomplishments, and about 10 percent seriously misrepresent their backgrounds, according to The Complete Reference Checking Book.