New research by Adecco has found that a third (33%) of UK workers cite office politics as a major contributing factor to feelings of unhappiness at work.

The research revealed that this feeling has an impact on peoples working lives, with 29% of workers spending Sunday’s dreading going to work the following week. These feelings of unhappiness and fear of going to work drove 28% of them to call in sick, in addition, a further 36% are also considering changing their employment due to their severe anxiety. 9% had already left a job after being overwhelmed with unhappiness.

The findings also drew light on workload and stress, 57% of workers said that their workload had increased their stress, while 33% cite a lack of managerial support and 56% of workers unable to ‘switch off’ from their work lives at the weekend or when on leave. When asked about their new working week, 44% of workers said they felt depressed, anxious or stressed compared to only 23% who said they were prepared for the week ahead.

The respondents were also asked, what would make them happier at work, 25% said a more supportive manager, the same figure for flexible working, and unsurprisingly 48% said a pay rise would improve negative feelings towards their workplace.

A good office dynamic is crucial for happy and productive workplaces. The prevalence of office politics as a cause of such severe stress in an indication that many organisations are struggling to manage their office culture.