And, it's not just 36 per cent who were driven to tears by cruel jibes, some 10 per cent claim to have been physically attacked, according to the study, based on a survey of 16,517 workers in 53 countries by a recruitment website.

A quarter claim bullying has affected their performance at work in the survey.

In total, 71 per cent of the British workforce has been bullied. A further 12 per cent say they have not been bullied themselves but have “seen it happen to others”; that leaves just one in six unaffected by bullying, the study has found.

In fact, in the overall survey, seven per cent said they were deliberately “physically hurt” and 36 per cent said “I've been driven to tears”. A further 21 per cent admitted it had “affected my performance”.

In total, 64 per cent of workers worldwide have been bullied. A staggering 83 per cent of continental European respondents claim to have been physically or emotionally bullied. This compares with 65 per cent in the Americas and 55 per cent in Asia.

Spanish workers are the most likely to be physically attacked and Dutch workers the most likely to cry. Belgium reported the lowest rates of bullying at 38 per cent.

Charles Purdy of the recruitment website said, “The survey results point to bullying in workplace being alarmingly widespread. It is certainly a problem that should be on employers' radar.