Dreading the end of the weekend and the start of the working week is overrated, with as many as 28 per cent of workers actually looking forward to Monday.

This is according to a new survey of 5,000 jobseekers by recruitment website reed.co.uk. Only 13 per cent of respondents said they actively hate Monday, with 29 per cent saying they are ambivalent about them.

The weekend does give rise to thoughts about jumping ship, however, and Reed statistics analysed in January showed that Monday lunchtime is the busiest time for logging on to its website to hunt for new jobs. Those who don’t like Mondays blamed their jobs, their dislike of their bosses or the fact that they were unemployed.

When asked what would improve Monday mornings, a third of workers said a new job, 20 per cent wanted more money and 13 per cent wanted an extra hour in bed to sleep off the weekend excess. However, we are not work shy – only 7 per cent of respondents said that Mondays could only be improved by not having to go to work.

Those who do dread the onset of Monday admit feeling low about the start of a new week over the course of the weekend, with 32 per cent admitting to thinking about work on Saturday and Sunday but said it didn’t ruin their time off, whilst for a further 32 per cent it did. Worse still, 8 per cent said work worry meant they had trouble sleeping and 5 per cent even said they think about work all day and all night.

Martin Warnes, operations director at reed.co.uk, said technology played its part for the third of respondents that are ambivalent to Monday mornings: “This could be linked to the fact that in today’s competitive economic climate, many people are working such long hours including the weekends – responding to emails and not switching off their blackberries – for them Monday really is just another day.

“For those who are unhappy however, the dread of Monday mornings is very real, and in some cases is affecting sleep patterns and health. However, like many have found, with a shift in attitude, it could be a really positive day to take action and find a new job that provides more job fulfillment, putting an end to the abject misery that for some people sums up Monday morning,” he said.