Though successive generations have been united in their belief that work is simply a necessary evil, it would seem that, thanks to changing priorities and ever-evolving technologies, our attitude to our jobs is steadily shifting.

Rather than the old 'take the money and run' attitude of yesteryear, when workers had resigned themselves to the fact that they had to spend most of their week tied to the office so they might as well get as much money out of it as they can, today's workforce has other prioritoies.

Of course, no employers have yet to face a prospective strike as their workers feel they are being paid too much; money will always be an issue and will remain the fundamental reason why everyday can't be a holiday.

However, managing to find a good 'employment-life balance' is steadily becoming almost as important as securing a healthy salary.

Recent research carried out by Universum found that, of the junior employees polled, 40 per cent ranked flexible working hours as the most attractive perk an employer could offer.

This proportion increased to 50 per cent among those with more than a decade's work under their belts, proof perhaps that age does bring wisdom.

Specifically, extra holidays beat performance-related bonuses to the most desired work perk, while flexibility was also highly sought after.

"Money is no longer what drives people," Sasha Hardman, HR associate director at law firm Allen & Overy, told the Times.

"They want interesting work, the opportunity to progress, to work with interesting people and a good work-life balance. We need to be much more flexible about the fact that people don’t all want the same thing."

Fortunately, it also seems that employers are picking up on their workers' wishes and, more importantly, seeing the benefits to them of flexible working.

Not only are workers happier and, therefore in theory more productive, but they free up office space and cut back on little overheads that actually add up to a tidy sum over a year or two.

Indeed, any manager who insists his workers come into the office every day from nine to five is increasingly being seen as a professional dinosaur, given that the technology exists to allow many people to carry out the same tasks from their own homes.

It seems likely therefore, that commuting to work will be something of an historical aberration, confined to the 19th and 20th centuries and sandwiched by the cottage industries of yore and the cyber-working of the future.