A survey of more than 1,000 adults found one in five rarely or never felt fulfilled at work, with younger people faring the worst - a quarter of those between 16 and 35 experienced a lack of job satisfaction.

In addition, a quarter of this age group said they did not feel they were in the right job, compared to 17% of the general population, the study by people development firm SHL found.

Almost a third of workers said they had re-evaluated the type of organisation for which they work as a result of the recession and a quarter said they were considering a change of career when the economy improves.

Top reasons for the 'recession rethink' include the need for greater job security (19%), the desire to enjoy work (15%) and wanting to work for an organisation with similar values (9%).

Workers in retail, leisure and catering industries were found to have the least job satisfaction, while those in healthcare and education had the most.

David Leigh, chief executive of SHL, said: "Lack of job fulfilment and job fit will have an impact on employee engagement, motivation and therefore productivity, and this is not something that employers can afford in the current economic climate."

During the summer, Personnel Today reported that HR continues to be one of the worst-hit sectors during the recession after the number of job vacancies in the profession remained at the second lowest level in 15 months.