Workers depressed easily (5,4)

I believe the answer is:

hands down

'easily' is the definition.
('hands down' can be a synonym of 'easily')

'workers depressed' is the wordplay.
'workers' becomes 'hands' (hand is a kind of worker).
'depressed' becomes 'down' ('down' can be a synonym of 'depressed').
'hands'+'down'='HANDS DOWN'

(Other definitions for hands down that I've seen before include "Common teaching command" , "six-thirty?" , "without effort" , "Workers not functioning" , "extremely easily" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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