Over 50% of Workers Admit to Office Romance

(onlinedatingmagazine.com - February 23, 2005) According to a survey by CareerBuilder.com, fifty-six percent of U.S. workers say they have dated a co-worker during their careers and 14 percent admitted to dating the boss. Thirty-one percent reported engaging in an office romance more than twice.

Nearly one-in-four survey respondents said they dated someone higher up within their company. While the majority agreed that an office romance did not impact their performance at work or employment situation, 8 percent said the relationship helped them to progress in their careers.

Workers said they became personally involved with fellow employees while working together on assignments and socializing after punching out for the day. Twenty-two percent began dating after collaborating on projects with 15 percent stating the connection happened while working late. Thirteen percent cited a happy hour with co-workers as the starting point for a romantic relationship.

"When you spend several hours of your day working with someone, it's not unusual to see employees make a personal connection," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources for CareerBuilder.com. "While the office is a popular place for meeting Mr. or Mrs. Right, it is important to take into consideration how becoming involved with a co-worker may affect your job or professional relationships. One-in-ten workers reported they left their jobs due to an office romance."

The majority of workers -- 75 percent -- feel that employees should be able to date anyone they wish to at work. However, given company politics around personal relationships within the organization and to avoid speculation around the water cooler, 46 percent of respondents said they kept their relationship with a co-worker a secret. Others were less guarded with one-in-ten reporting that they were caught kissing at work.

Survey Methodology
The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Office Romance," was conducted from January 6 to January 11, 2005 of more than 1,300 workers. The e-mail methodology used to collect survey responses for this study involved selecting a random sample of comScore Networks panel members, with a relatively equal representation of men (47 percent) and women (53 percent). These Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to participate in a short online survey. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to within +/- 2.68 percentage points (19 times out of 20).