Taxi drivers have been named as the UK's grumpiest workers - find out who else is lacking laughter in the workplace
Taxi drivers were named as the nation's grumpiest workers in a survey today.
A study on laughter in the workplace found the prospect of ferrying around strangers on a daily basis meant cabbies laughed less than any other profession.
Just 0.4% of taxi drivers claimed to regularly laugh during a working day, blaming traffic jams, the rising cost of petrol and drunken passengers.
Happy workers
In a survey of 4,000 British workers commissioned by comedy channel GOLD, secretaries were found to be the happiest, with more than half (53.5%) saying they managed to chuckle in the office.
This happened more than 10 times a day for 7.8% of them and a quarter of secretaries (25.8%) confessed the majority of their amusement came from watching the stressful lives of their disgruntled bosses.
The results revealed housewives were almost as cheerful, with 47.9% finding time to laugh followed by shopkeepers (45.3%), teachers (42.5%) and accountants (32.5%).
Fighting it out at the bottom of the pile were fitness instructors - with 0.9% claiming they laughed at work - while 1.6% of undertakers said they did, compared to 2.1% of performers and 3.8% of recruitment consultants.
Joy of laughter
According to the study, there is a correlation between laughter at work and the number of days taken off sick.
Fitness instructors take an average of four days off sick every year, and undertakers top this with an average of 4.6.
Laughing more at work seems to help keep illness at bay, as housewives take time out for just 2.06 days annually, while secretaries take 2.8 days.
Of those surveyed, 48% felt it was important to have a laugh during a working day, claiming it helped the day go faster.
Workers were also asked about what made them laugh and traditional jokes topped the list with 26.1% of the vote.
Funny virals and emails came second with 19.8% of the vote, and other people's misfortune, took third place with 17.3%.
GOLD's channel head Paul Moreton said: "People who laugh regularly at work are not only happier but also more productive in the workplace."
'cept when somebody tells me a joke that I don't understand then I'm just confused