A third of Scottish police staff and officers want to leave the new national force.
The grim but widely expected finding came in the first full and independent survey of the men and women who make up or support Scotland's thin blue line.
Just over half of all Police Scotland employees took part in the staff survey, with one in three saying they were considering leaving the organisation over the next three years. Just eight per cent thought the service was interested in well-being.
Senior officers had anticipated some negativity - not least thanks to the inevitable stress caused by the merger of Scotland's eight territorial forces and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency in 2013.
However, it is hard to compare the current mood in Police Scotland with that of the old forces.
And far from all the survey findings were negative. More than three-quarters said they trusted their colleagues and line managers and just under three-quarters thought their team worked well to improve services.
The survey was ordered by both Police Scotland and its main civilian watchdog the Scottish Police Authority or SPA.
The SPA now believes that its findings must be used as a measure of how well whoever replaces outgoing chief constable Sir Stephen House has performed.

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Andrew Flanagan, the new chairman of SPA, said: "The results speak for themselves and we will not seek to rationalise them away.
"There are a number of very positive findings within the survey that provide reassurance and which we must build upon. There are also issues of concern and areas for improvement.
"The clear priority areas are the commitment of officers and staff to stay with the organisation, health and wellbeing, and communications.
"It is on those priority areas that the SPA expects a strong management response, and on which SPA will use its influence and oversight.
"One immediate step SPA will take is within the assessment and appointment process of the new Chief Constable.
"All those shortlisted can expect to be challenged by me on how they would personally address the central issues within today’s report."
Brian Docherty, Chairman of the Scottish Police Federation or SPF, stressed that the survey findings should serve as a wake-up call for politicians as police budgets were trimmed.
He said: "There is nothing in this survey that surprises the Scottish Police Federation.
"We know police officers are dedicated public servants and take pride in delivering exceptional service to the communities of Scotland.
"We have consistently stated that contrary to the views of our detractors, many parts of the service were content at their work and this survey more than bears that out.
"There are many good things in this survey and these almost all serve to demonstrate the dedication, commitment and professionalism of those delivering that exceptional service in difficult circumstances.
"That being said, the wider contents of the survey should serve as a wakeup call to the service, the SPA and Government.
" You cannot deliver a world class police service purely on the good will of the men and women who work in it. Nearly 8,500 of our members (almost half of all police officers) completed this survey, and their voices need to be listened to.
"That a third of respondents stated they were looking to leave the service in the near future is a cause of considerable concern.
"That more than three-quarters of all police officers felt they had insufficient resources to do their job properly is frightening and that 95 per cent believed the service was not genuinely interested in their wellbeing is simply shocking.
"We are not surprised that resources and pressures of work, particularly in local policing, are subject to the most strident criticisms.
"Local policing is stretched and police officers are under phenomenal pressure.
"They are tired, overworked and are increasingly strangers in their own homes.
"Almost without exception a lack of finance lies at the heart of myriad of issues this survey identifies.
"The Service, Scottish Police Authority and Government cannot ignore the reality that a lack of funding is having a detrimental impact on the men and women in the service and that unless addressed."