Extreme jobs play havoc on sex lives, according to a new study.

Millions of high flying executives are risking divorce as the long hours they work play havoc on their sex lives, a new study has found.

Ambitious professionals are sacrificing their personal lives and ignoring their children because of the so-called "the extreme job".

Research, published by the Harvard Business Review, identifies this new type of worker who regards a 10-hour day at work as part-time.

It is "wreaking havoc on private lives and taking a toll on health and well-being", the research warns.

The research estimates 45 per cent of high-earning people working for large global companies have "extreme jobs".

For starters, an extreme job involves working at least 60 hours a week, although many work 100 hours or more.

The biggest losers are the spouses and families of workers with extreme jobs.

Nearly half of men and women who took part in the international research project said their jobs "interfere with having a strong relationship with my spouse/partner."

At the end of a 12-hour or longer day at work, 45 per cent of all respondents in the global companies survey are too tired to say anything at all to their spouses or partners.

The same number said that their jobs, which involves regular travel and evening entertainment, make it "impossible" to have a "satisfying sex life."