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U.S. workers might recognize that there are risks involved with office romances, but that hasn't stopped nearly 40 percent of them from dating their co-workers.
While 41% of workers think a workplace romance might adversely affect their chances for promotion, or even endanger their jobs, 39% report that they would consider a workplace romance according to a new survey by Spherion Corporation, a recruiting and staffing company. Meanwhile, 39% of workers surveyed reported that they've already had a romantic relationship with a co-worker.
What's more, the survey found that while 35% consider such relationships "top secret," more workers in such relationships (42%) conduct such workplace romances openly.
When such relationships have taken place, about a quarter of them (27%) lasted "several weeks or less," but almost the same percentage (25%) resulted in marriage, according to the survey. (Meanwhile, 30% of workers report that their relationships lasted "several months," 15% lasted "several years.")
The survey found some rather marked discrepancies between men and women regarding taking the risk of engaging in an office romance--while 47% of men would consider dating a co-worker (47%), just 30% of women would consider it. Meanwhile, nearly half (47%) of women surveyed believe that a workplace romance could hurt their job prospects or endanger their jobs, while 36% of men felt this way. Perhaps that's why more women (41%) than men (31%) decide to keep such relationships a secret.
When asked if their employer had a policy on workplace dating, more than half of the respondents (53%) said no, and just 16% said yes. This left 31% of respondents who weren't sure whether their employer had such a policy.
"Given that most of us spend at least a third of our day at work, there's plenty of opportunity to consider a workplace romance" John Heins, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Spherion said in a press release. "Certainly, it's a company's decision whether to allow or discourage coworker dating, but the fact that nearly one-third of workers aren't sure whether their employers have such a policy is somewhat concerning."
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