Job from hell? Join the club

If you are miserable in the workplace, take solace in the fact that you have got a lot of company.

Half of all US employees have, at some point in their careers, quit their jobs to get away from their boss, according to a new Gallup study of 7272 adults.

If workers loathe their higher-ups, the feeling may be mutual.

Gallup found that managers were not thrilled with their work situations, either. Just 35% of US managers said they felt engaged on the job. Fifty-one percent said they were not engaged, and 14% confessed that they actively tuned out at work.

The numbers suggest that there are relatively few Americans who do not feel like they are corporate cogs straight out of a Kafka novel.

"I'm continually surprised at these numbers - they're a lot lower than they need to be," says Jim Harter, Gallup's chief scientist of workplace management and wellbeing.

Unhappy workplaces do more than just push employees towards happy-hour drinks to forget about their day.

"When managers are not engaged, it affects their employees, which in turn affects productivity, whether people stay or leave, how often they're absent, and then, ultimately, productivity," Harter says.

Your overall wellbeing can take a hit from hating your job, he adds.

Being stressed out at work can heighten the risk of developing depression, anxiety and obesity, a 2007 study found.