Ears will be justifiably burning across UK offices today as results from a new study from diet Coke reveals that gossiping about office politics, other colleagues and the boss is now a staple skill being deployed by career-minded Brits to get ahead. And it’s girls who are leading the way.

More than half (53%) admit to gossiping about their colleagues and office politics over and above typical chat about family (24%), private life (22%) and their feelings (18%). And its bosses who should be especially worried – more than one in ten (12%) admitted to gossiping about their boss more frequently than the day’s newspaper headlines (7%), world events (5%) and celebrities (5%).

The diet Coke-commissioned report found that this work time gossip is not just idle small talk – rather it’s a crucial skill with a specific code of rules that forms the backbone of modern office communication.

Leading social anthropologist, Kate Fox says: “People have always gossiped at work but in today’s cut throat workplace it’s taken on a more complex form - women in particular have developed advanced skills turning even their break time into a strategic moment to form bonds through gossiping and chatting together. What might appear to be idle chit chat is actually a finely honed communication skill integral to career advancement where being a ‘good gossip’ and using crucial downtime as a subtle networking device can set you apart from your colleagues.”