Employers have been urged to put the excitement back into the world of work, as latest figures have shown six out of 10 workers consider themselves trapped in "bad" jobs.
Research by Britain's Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that only four out of 10 workers felt they were in "good" jobs - in other words ones that were interesting and exiting but not unduly stressful.
For the rest, it was a much grimmer picture. More than four out of 10 said they have little control at work and one in five felt they had limited control.
Two out of 10 said their jobs were either very or extremely stressful, a quarter said they received little or no support from their supervisor, more than a third (37 per cent) said their workload was too heavy and one in five did not believe the demands of their job were realistic.
To make matters worse, fewer than four out of 10 (38 per cent) were willing to place a lot of trust in senior management to look after their interests, a figure which falls to only a quarter for private sector employees.
And ominously for employers, graduates reported lower levels of satisfaction and commitment, despite often occupying senior positions.
Mike Emmott, CIPD employee relations adviser, said: "The evidence suggests that most employers need to work a lot harder in order to get the best from their staff.
"They need to see that line managers understand and buy into the people management policies they are expected to deliver.
"This means convincing managers of the value of these policies and helping them to understand the consequences of not handling them well.
"Most jobs can be made interesting or even exciting, if they are well managed," he added.