NEARLY two-fifths of public-sector workers are taking steps to leave their profession or are considering quitting, a new TUC poll published yesterday reveals.

The shocking findings show that austerity-hit public services face a “mass exodus” of key workers unless Tory ministers address falling take-home pay and unsustainable funding levels, the union body stressed.

It warned that the average public servant now earns £200 a month less when adjusted for inflation than in 2010, following more than a decade of attacks on real-terms wages.