'Management Today' found that women have had the most difficulty juggling their home and work lives, with one in 10 admitting they had lost the chance to have children because of their careers.

5,000 people responded to the survey, with more than 4,600 saying they had sacrificed something important at home for their career.

Women are more badly affected

Half regretted "missing the children growing up" or "putting work before home and family" the most. Others respondents complained about having to move home for their employer, missing leisure time and being unable to form relationships.

While just under half the people who responded to the survey found it increasingly hard to meet both personal and work commitments, this was a bigger problem for women, with 57% citing it as a concern.

Some of the sacrifices uncovered by the survey included missing the birth of a child to being away from a seriously ill partner, and, in one case, postponing a father's funeral.

A quarter of men and a third of women said they would accept a pay cut to improve their situation.

Working fewer hours was top of the list of "top 10 wishes", followed by changing company culture, flexible working and less commuting.

"The number of people who responded to the survey was overwhelming. The sacrifices some are making for the sake of their careers are shocking," said Liz Bargh, chief executive of WFD, a management consultancy that specialises in advising companies how to keep their workforces happy.

Many women are missing out on the chance to have children

"The report sends a clear signal: our present way of working is unsustainable, the cost is too high in human and business terms. Business will have to work with employees to balance work and life for compassion and for competitiveness."

The survey also discovered that managers are also being affected, 67% said they were expected to ask more and more of their staff and 34% felt they often pushed them too hard.

More than 30% said work/life pressure was a prime cause of staff turnover. In the public sector and large organisations this figure soared to more than 40%.