The latest job satisfaction survey showed that accounting came top of the rankings with the Big Four all featured in the top 30. The largest Big Four firm was PwC ranked at 9th, Deloitte came in at a close second at 14th, with EY placing at 18th followed by KPMG at 21st.

Mid-tier accounting firm Grant Thornton came in at 106th.

The top five companies to work for were Google followed by the NHS, up from fifth spot, followed by Apple, Amazon and the BBC.

A study of 16,000 workers ranked by different employee sectors based on a combination of how satisfied workers were with their employer, how likely they are to recommend them to a friend and whether they wanted to change jobs was conducted by job board Totaljobs and employer branding company, Universum.

Auditing and accounting came out in the top slot, followed by: Passenger transportation, Law and legal services, Technology and then Construction and engineering. The bottom three professions with the least job satisfaction were: Media, E-commerce and then Professionals in logistics.

The workforce in the UK is transient with one in two Brits (54%) looking to change jobs in the next year.

With more than half of workers looking to change jobs in the next 12 months, employees are spending an average of one and a half hours a day being unproductive – costing up to £195 million each day to the UK economy in wages.

For those intent on shifting jobs, the biggest drivers are career progression (30%), professional training and development (32%) and the feeling that their current roles and responsibilities are unlikely to grow (25%).

Alexandra Sydney, director at Totaljobs, said: ‘Despite economic uncertainty, British workers are confident, and willing to look elsewhere and change jobs in order to get the things they want from an employer.

‘For employers focused on retention, it’s clear that money isn’t the key driver in job satisfaction. Instead a healthy work-life balance, feeling valued and having opportunities to progress is what keeps people in a job. Happy employees are engaged employees, and while a fall in productivity can cost a business financially, fixing the issues not.’

Claes Peyron, managing director, Universum a Total jobs subsidiary, said: ‘The research established which businesses appear to be getting it right. Topping the list of the most desired places to work in the UK for workers in the business/economic background is Google followed by the NHS, which rose from fifth spot. Apple, Amazon and the BBC round out the top five.’