Shop workers and teachers top stress league

However, HR professionals are the happiest, the research from job search engine Adzuna found.

Charity workers, those in social work and in the property industry rounded out the top five least happy workers.

But more than half of the human resources workers were content with their lot, with consultants came a close second - 43.8 per cent of them claiming to be satisfied with their current salary.

Builders, marketers and energy workers made up the top five happiest workers in the country.

The survey analysed attitudes of over 1,000 UK workers to highlight employment satisfaction levels across more than 30 industries in 12 UK regions.

Attitudes towards pay rises were also analysed by the research, with the study showing that almost two in five of us being convinced we are paid less than our colleagues.

Workers ages 35-44 were most likely to worry they were paid less than their peers, while those in their 20s showed the highest levels of confidence in their compensation, with 10 per cent believing they were paid more than colleagues.

Salary Secrets

The research alo showed over half of us (53 per cent) would never discuss salary with a co-worker, which only increases the reach of the compensation complex, which plagues many UK workplaces.

As a result, more than half (56 per cent) of the nation’s workforce have avoided asking for a pay rise, with only 13.6 per cent of British workers ever having successfully broached the subject with a superior.

Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna, concluded: “It’s time to address the UK workforces’ Compensation Complex once and for all, and declare a war on pay inequality.

‘Our hardworking employees deserve fair pay for the work they carry out - and the tools to help them understand both their value in the workplace today - and how they can increase this going forward. It’s time for employers to play fair.’