Office workers would like to break free of the nine to five grind

A third of those surveyed by the group are looking to change jobs, with one in five wanting to work outdoors.

The people most likely to want a switch are employed in the media, engineering or pharmaceutical industries.

The body said a "radical change" was taking place with employees looking for jobs that offer more flexibility.

Frustration

Stress and frustration created by too many administrative hold-ups were cited as key reasons for people wanting a change.

Dream jobs for office workers Media workers most want to be an author Lawyers most want to be a farmer or gardener Teachers most want to be a chef IT specialists most want to be a farmer or charity worker Source: City & Guilds

The survey of 1,054 workers indicated that many wanted to work for themselves, with a sizeable proportion keen on a job in gardening or farming.

The survey also found that the longer a person had been in a job, the more likely they were to want a career move.

Nearly half those questioned who had been in their careers for more than ten years wanted to switch occupation.

Amongst 40-to-49 year olds the percentage of people desiring a switch was 58%.

Your comments:

But according to the Work Foundation, who reported only last month, we're all so happy in our work. Personally, I'd like a job okaying Thornton's products. Being a film censor might be pretty neat, too.
Rog, Liverpool

Did man evolve for so long, conquer so much, to end up sitting down all day in an office staring at screen? Jonathan Ward, UK

These days employers offer no perks and doing overtime is viewed as standard practice, if you choose to do regular hours you get frowned upon. Is it any wonder people are getting stressed. Work to live, not live to work is definitely my attitude. I find those employees who only see their kids at weekends because they get home too late during the week as a sad indictment of our society today. I hope my son grows up to do something where he can have more of a family life. I certainly will not be recommending working in an office.
Sonia, Shrewsbury

Poker Professional.
John R, Chelmsford, Essex

I could not agree more. I joined my current company four years ago and was told that I would be offered a "challenging and fore filling career with opportunities to learn and travel". The only travel offered is too and from client's sites and as for learning, I have funded all my education with not even a day off for exams. I now fancy a complete career change, one that is working outside - maybe a builder or a train driver.
Chris, London

I have always worked in an office environment and I think it is only natural that those cooped up in offices yearn for a working life outside of the constraints of an office. I believe that most likely 90% of people don't work in the careers that they would really like to do and most people are trapped in jobs because of the salaries and not because they are interested in it. Today's society unfortunately dictates that you should own your own house, car, appliances and so on. In order to do that you have to earn a lot of money - and charitable work/gardening aren't always very profitable - unless of course your are Charlie Dimmock or Alan Titchmarsh. If I could start my working career again I would probably go into the health and fitness industry rather than investment banking which I have done for the last 17 years.
Tara, Kent, UK

I daydream about leaving my office job to run my own business, or to work closer to home, or have more flexible working hours. Who doesn't? I believe a more interesting survey would measure how many in office jobs actually make the leap and follow their dreams. I am sure the results would show very low percentages foregoing the security of a dull office job. It's human nature. But we can dream, can't we?
Steven Chambers, Chelmsford, Essex

I have been working in offices (insurance) since 1979. Halfway through my working years and I don't want this to be all my working life. I'm in my forties and really fancy playing the drums in a band on a regular passenger cruise ship - enjoying the day by the pool and then playing at night. Now that's a career change.
Peter, Birmingham

I can't stand working in my office, just too boring, so I've handed my notice in and in four weeks I'm starting training to become a radiographer, which should keep me away from the office for at least another decade.
Josh, Norwich

Just a question? Did man evolve for so long, conquer so much, to end up sitting down all day in an office staring at screen? It just doesn't seem natural really.
Jonathan Ward, UK

I am currently an account manager, but would love to switch and become a jazz singer. I want to do something creative I enjoy and something that touches other people other than a way that makes more money for their company
Naomi, Bristol, England

Yes, I'd love to change my job, after 35 years in the same profession. However, as I shall be retiring in 3 years' time I think I'll hang on and get my full pension. Money makes cowards of us all
Madeline Cox, UK

I used to work for an investment bank for seven years. Two years ago I left the city and went back to university to study music industry management. At first it felt like the scariest thing I've ever done but within a week I knew it was the best decision I'd ever made, now two years on I'm looking work within the music industry probably self employed.
Richard Colman, High Wycombe

Why yes, I am incredibly bored. My goal is to be a tree surgeon, having helped a friend of mine do the job in the past and deeply enjoyed it. I would love to be able to get outside again, whatever the weather. It's so sterile and predictable in an office.
Rich, UK

I'm a bored office worker, and seem to spend a large proportion of my time on the web. I'd like to do something creative for a living - writing probably - but the daily office grind leaves me too tired after work.
NickyD, Bristol, England

I'd like to be a prima ballerina, an actress in independent films, or a session singer.
Cath, Liverpool

I switched in the opposite direction, from being a roofer in North London. I got so fed up with the rain and the cold that I went to university and learnt to program. I miss the outdoor work very badly in the summer, but I wouldn't switch back now for all the tea in China.
Jeremy, Leicester UK

I now really regret not studying something really interesting at university. I did engineering and have ended up in an IT job, which is not bad and pays quite well. But I really wish I had studied history and was working as an archivist or archaeologist now. Maybe its not too late to change.
Clare, Glasgow

I have been working in my office job for almost three years and I have a struggle every day to try and force myself to go into work. It is the most boring, repetitive work. It was okay for the first year or so but after that I have been longing to leave. I have done something about it and started doing voluntary work for a youth drop in centre and I have managed to get a job as a residential social worker I start on 6 September and I am counting the days down on the calendar at work. Now I know that I am leaving soon it is even harder to come into work. People who are stuck in office life think that that's all they can do and don't try to get a career change but it just shows that you can do anything you put your mind to!!!!
Shanie Frances, Stoke-on-Trent

I work in PR but don't be fooled by the title. I am basically a glorified secretary who is chained to her desk all day. I leave in a week's time to start my teacher training. People have said I'm mad but I can't wait to get out of this chair and use my brain and the degree I worked so hard for.
Veronica, Leicester

Although I enjoy my office job, it can be very boring. I know a lot people like me who quite like the idea of doing two jobs. For example, a few days in the office and a few days doing something outdoors every week. I always fancied becoming a tree surgeon
D Fish, East Kilbride

I'm an office worker get me out of here! Scott, Leeds

I have worked for a large communications company for over seven years . I am 28 and taking redundancy ,travelling round the world then I'm training to become a social worker.
Tim, Cambridge

The real problem is mental attitude. I have an office job with a large bank. It pays the bills but it is not what I want to be. I want to be a writer. When people ask me what I do, that is what I tell them. I used to drone about being an office worker. My epiphany came very suddenly. Since then, I have chosen to define myself and not to let my bill-paying exercises do it for me. I get up at 06:00 every day and write for two hours before leaving for my office job. Why? Because I'm a writer. I just spend seven hours a day doing things to pay the bills. And you know what? For the first time in years, I'm happy.
William JP Shaw, Huddersfield, UK

I trained as a scientist, which involved eight years at university, culminating in a doctorate. I prefer to spend my working life at a lab bench as I am very practical with my hands. I work in a research-based job. The only trouble is that all real science at a lab bench gets contracted out to other companies and/or universities. So all of our in house "research work" is done on computers. To spend the next thirty years with a computer and desk as a ball and chain fills me with terror. Additionally, I work for a major supermarket as a shelf stacker - no GCSEs needed. My main job required a doctorate. Guess which job pays more per hour? The supermarket job. Scientists and Engineers are not fully appreciated or properly rewarded in this country. Is it any wonder we have the brain drain and career switching?
Dr Stephen Hanson, Evesham, Worcestershire

If it wasn't for the internet, there is absolutely no way I could have survived working as an office based engineer for the past ten years Name withheld

I detect echoes of the legendary Monty Python "I want to be a lion-tamer" sketch. Hard, dirty, manual graft only seems more fulfilling when you are bored. When you are doing it, you would much rather be sat back at your desk.
Steven O'Leary, London

I've worked in offices most of my working career and although enjoy it would much rather be following a career in the theatre. With the constraints of retaining a good home, opportunities for children and so on, one needs a steady income. Sad but fact of life these days.
Carol, Peterborough

The mind-numbing, spirit-crushing lot of an office worker is not a happy one. Working under people that you wouldn't even trust to look after your cat? I'm an office worker get me out of here! I have worked in offices all my working life and yearn for something better which I cannot afford to do because of the salary that I am currently on. Roll on redundancy/retirement - even death. Anything but this please.
Scott, Leeds

Working in an office for fixed times is like a jail term, it is totally soul destroying. Technology was supposed to free us, instead it has enslaved us, tied to our desk for 8+ ours every day is totally un-natural. Where did we go wrong - the whole thing needs a re-think.
Dawn, Folkestone

I feel I've missed the boat on my dream job as a glamour model photographer. I think I'm doomed to a life trapped in the office forever, and I'm only 27.
Phil Goulstone, Newcastle Upon Tyne

Very interesting to note how many people would be keen to get into farming. I work with farmers and if you think an office job is stressful and requires overtime, then think again. Farming is not a job, it has to be a total way of life, particularly at this time of year. Incidentally, a recent report shows that farming has one of the highest levels of mental health problems and suicide. Stay in the office. It's safer.
Name withheld, Cumbria

As a marine biologist working on the barrier reef in OZ. That would be fab.
Sarah, England

If it wasn't for the internet, there is absolutely no way I could have survived working as an office based engineer for the past ten years. Most large companies like to proclaim that they offer the 'trendy' work/life balance, but I am yet to discover a company that pays anything more than lip service to this concept.
Name withheld

I want to be a plumber. I blame Mrs Thatcher for making me turn my nose up at traditional trades.
Mike Lowe, Cardiff, UK

I took a year out when I was 30 to become a windsurfing and sailing instructor and followed the sun and wind. I had an excellent time and was very happy to have done it, but now happy to be back, earning money and enjoying a family life.
Iain P, Poole

I never wanted to be in insurance. I always wanted to be a lumberjack. Leaping from tree to tree as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia.
Dave, Cardiff, Wales

"Don't sit too close to the TV or you'll get square eyes." they said when we were children. Now look at us - 30cms from a flickering monitor.
Jason, Perth

I've been a civil servant for 14 years. It suddenly dawned on me that this is not a dress rehearsal and sitting behind a desk tapping on computer keys all day is not enough. Fortunately I'm about to take the leap. I've bought a House in France and I'm off very soon. Try it.
Chris Jones, Southport

I have just escaped from office life after 10 years. I am about to embark upon a career in teaching and start my course in September. Talking to my colleagues prior to leaving there were many who are considering leaving the city and doing something more worthwhile.
Name withheld

I made the leap. It took nine years of staring at a computer screen moving bits of data from A to B before I realised how I was wasting my life. So I upped and left to get a pilot's license. The office view is much better 6 miles up.
Mike, Bucks

I am an accountant, but in the walks between meetings I am a tank commander Jeremy, Birmingham

Reading this has made me feel a lot more confident. I have taken the plunge and start my plumbing course in September. The main reason being that this damn PC is sucking my soul out through my eyes.
TW, Oldham

I think what most people want is to be able to think for themselves and become something more than an employee number in the HR department. The jobs most people want are self-employed jobs where they dictate when they work and what they do. It's not necessarily escaping from the office, it's escaping from the management and paper chain that comes from working in an office.
Karen, UK

I am a farmer and secretly dream of becoming an IT Specialist.
Simon, Scotland

I'd love to be a green keeper at my local golf course. However school fees, massive mortgages and an expensive wife keep me prisoned in the "exciting" world of IT. One day I vow to escape.
Charlie, Horsham

If I could see my time over I'd either be a sports journo (imagine being paid to watch the World Cup) or Annika Sorenstam's caddy.
John Lewis, Wolverhampton

I know plenty of nurses, teachers, and social workers who are trying to break into an office-based job. They want regular hours, less stress, and better pay. Let's face it: the grass is always greener somewhere else. It's a sad fact, but most work is boring and always has been. It's just that we've come to expect it to be challenging and interesting that makes us so disappointed.
Moira, Oxford, UK

That's it, I'm out of here from the end of August to work as a driver for a recruitment firm. It's longer hours and lower pay but it means getting out of IT and out of the office, it'll be worth it for my blood pressure alone.
Dan , Peterborough UK

Its a well known fact that lack of daylight causes depression. The modern office is a hermetically sealed fish tank full of depressed fish. Maybe if the office was more people friendly with daylight and fresh air the people in them would be more friendly too.
Michelle, A Fish Tank In Slough

I am an accountant, but in the walks between meetings I am a tank commander, although sometimes being a fighter pilot appeals. I suspect that they dream about accountancy on their the way to hazardous adventures in foreign parts.
Jeremy, Birmingham

I am currently saving money from my mundane office job to pass my advanced driving test and become a driving instructor. No more 9 to 5, no more boring suits, I cant wait. Too many people waste too much of their lives stuck in an office, its full of bacteria, ruins posture and eyesight - I'm surprised so many people still do it.
Dave, Surbiton, Surrey

I've offered my services to Lambourghini as a test driver. They haven't replied yet for some reason.
Paul, Forfar, Scotland

I'd like to be from old money and not have to bother with such tawdry matters.
Erin, Edinburgh, Scotland

I'm social, energetic and love the natural world. I work with the same 5 people day in day out, the longest walk I get is to the photocopier and even natural light is at a premium. I too desperately want to be a tree surgeon or landscape gardener.
Mick, Belfast

I finally saw the light after endlessly trying to better myself in various IT jobs to no avail. Being constantly surrounded by middle managers who have little or no idea of what is going on while they crawl around the senior managers makes me sick - and I've had enough. I stare at other staff who have been here twenty plus years and just think, that could be me if I don't do something now. So starting Feb next year we going travelling for six months around South and North America and when I get back we are going to try and get into New Zealand for a complete new life. My wife is a nurse so it shouldn't present too many problems. Life isn't a rehearsal. If you have an opportunity, grab it with both hands and don't let go.
Name withheld, Blackpool

I'm an office worker during the week and a cleaner at a fast-food chain at the weekend. I get more satisfaction from that job as I can achieve a result and the public comment on how clean the place is. Whether I would be stimulated doing that full time is another question.
John Henderson, Washington, West Sussex

I work for a well known educational helpline and you would not believe the number of people would want to be plumbers and electricians. They're not swayed by the "back to nature" of it all. They want the money. Trouble is so does everyone else. Hence, no college places, no work experience. You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. Personally, I want to count penguins in the Antarctic.
Name withheld

The daily grind is a form of modern-day slavery, where we get paid just enough to get by although after all the direct and indirect taxes are taken into account we have no more than a few spare pennies left. Because we feel so miserable about the situation we will then just waste whatever few spare pennies we have left on frivolous, meaningless and overpriced 'luxuries'. We are kept in this position as a means of mass subjugation, to prevent us using our brains and exercising our own will. We are mentally conditioned to accept it as the way things are and are too frightened to do anything about it. Until people shun conventionality, ignore the financial aspects and just take the step to do what we enjoy doing nothing will change.
Name withheld

So, IT professionals would love to be farmers? I'm sure they would love the 6 am starts, the lack of holidays, mucking out and so on. After the first week, I'm pretty sure they would prefer to be back behind their desk surfing the BBC news site after arriving at 9am in their BMW.
Alistair, Dublin, Ireland

Having worked for the same company for the past 6 years and having had 6 jobs, each time moving to a more challenging and rewarding role I am anything but bored. The key is to keep interested in what you are doing. The moment it gets boring the less effective you will be in your role and that suits no one. Maybe I've just been Lucky.
Neil Cummings, Caerphilly, South Wales

A dolphin trainer
Jim, Oxford, UK

I'd like to be a part-time philosopher and a part-time animal sanctuary worker. This, of course, all costs money which is why we are all in our humdrum office jobs!
Tabitha, London

There is a quiet revolution underway. I am 27 and my generation will be the last to be sold the story that offices mean respectability, mean security, mean careers. Be it tree surgeon, plumber, teacher, diver, driver, soldier or whatever I am not going to let my kids be told the same old story - they will have a job that is more than being the last part of a machine-based paper process
Siege, Northampton

For all my youth parents and teachers drilled it into my head that I need good grades to get a good job with a high salary after school. So I was the perfect student and buckled down to study. Meanwhile my two brothers were outside playing about and not taking life seriously. After university I got a job in the IT sector (lured in by the promise of high prestige and salary). What is the outcome of all those years of hard labour? I sit in front of a flickering monitor all day solving other peoples' problems in a job that's hanging on by a thread in an industry that's close to collapse. What became of my brothers? One is now a airline pilot in the USA and the other teaches English in China; both are as happy as they've ever been. I should've been a Park Ranger in Africa instead.
Ben, England

I was at art college and ended up in publishing - I would love to be a portrait painter, doing a bit of gardening for people and cooking on the side ... ah well.
Claire, Fife

I think the views here are very unbalanced. Office work is not so bad. After seven years in sales, I took a large salary cut and came back to office work. I am loving every moment. The routine is good for me. This doesn't mean I'm not ambitious.
Name withheld

I have just returned to the 9-5 life after a year out sailing. The year out from my professional career has not affected my prospects but has entirely changed my outlook on life for the better. The plan now is to work toward the next - and final - career break where I can continue to pursue my dreams. Go on, if you don't do it now - even for a short time - when will you?
Matthew, Sevenoaks

I occupy myself by doing interesting things in the evening - it's been salsa dancing for the past few years. It's a great motivation for getting things done and getting out on time and makes a tedious job worthwhile, and I get the social contact we all need so desperately in this day and age.
JS, London UK

There is definitely more to life than tapping keys all day. I would dearly love to bring new life into the world and be a midwife. My age, however, is against me, together with the loss of my current salary whilst training would make life too difficult. I would say to anyone do something that you know you will enjoy, life is just too short.
Betty, Blyth

Do this survey again in January and see how many people want to work outside.
Craig, Newcastle, UK

I'm working in a boring office job in the day, waiting to apply for the police at the end of the year. I've just signed up for voluntary work with young offenders to get a challenge back in my life, and work in a bar in the evenings to top up the wage. If you don't like your office job but can't afford to leave I recommend adding to it with something that you do enjoy, there's loads out there people - better than watching TV every night.
Dan, Bradford, West Yorkshire

I am jealous of people who work in offices for one reason: money! I'm an archaeologist and while I love the job I can't afford to buy a semi-decent car and struggle every month to pay the rent and bills. But I am happy, and would have gone stir-crazy being stuck in an office for more than six months! As Chris Jones says, this is not a dress rehearsal.
AQ, Oxford, UK

Just ask yourself this - will your company grind to a halt if you're not sat at your desk tomorrow? Probably not.
Kirsten, Manchester, UK

I'd like to be the person who gets to sack all of the people who have made my life difficult over the last few years.
Debbie, Edinburgh

I was a forklift driver for ten years until the early nineties. The manufacturing industry was beginning its demise in the UK and I enrolled at university as a mature student. Five years later I emerged with an HND and a degree in law. Now I work in IT and I live in Spain. I have no regrets about my decisions but when I look back the best people I have ever worked with were my work mates on the shop floor.
Nigel