According to research undertaken by recruitment agency Badenoch & Clark (B&C), a quarter of all IT workers are unhappy in their jobs, and more than a third are worried about their job prospects.

In terms of dissatisfaction, IT came out second worst of all of the industries looked at, with 25% of respondents claiming to be unhappy. Accountants, healthcare workers and bankers were less disaffected.

The new year often acts as a catalyst for workers to re-evaluate their careers, and it is common to see staff considering their alternatives at this time of the year, suggests Matt Gascoigne, an IT recruitment manager at B&C.

Nevertheless, B&C’s historical figures provide cold comfort. The survey has been carried out for the previous two quarters and, in both, IT shows high levels of employee dissatisfaction. Employers need to start considering how to “improve happiness at work and retain valued employees”, explains Gascoigne.

In such circumstances, it seems that the human resources department might be the place to go for insight into staff retention and motivation. Sadly, as the B&C figures reveal, the HR professionals might not have the answers: they are the only group of staff that are more depressed than IT.