According to the Society for Human Resources Management, 80 percent of big corporations conduct background checks, particularly criminal ones, on potential employees. Heightened fears concerning terrorism and workplace violence as well as negligent hiring lawsuits have spurred employer?s increased vigilance. Technological advances have also made conducting background checks easier and cheaper.
See "Bosses peek into job-seekers' pasts", Susan Llewelyn Leach, The Christian Science Monitor, October 12, 2004