Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more. We all know what they are up to. Around the water cooler, in the stationery room, and on business trips. Yes, its another office romance, and according to the latest Spherion Workplace Snapshot, nearly four in 10 workers would consider dating a co-worker, and nearly four in 10 have done so. With 25 percent of such romances leading to the altar, Cupid is busy.
Despite 41 percent of U.S. workers thinking that a workplace romance would jeopardise their job security or advancement opportunities, up from 36 percent last year, 39 percent have already had a workplace romance and the same percentage would consider it. The romance is apparently worth the risk, as 42 percent of workers conduct their romance openly, compared to 35 percent who consider it top secret.
Women are more likely than men to feel that a romantic relationship at work might jeopardise their jobs (47 percent versus 36 percent), so it’s not surprising that, of those who have had a workplace romance, more women than men kept it under wraps (41 percent compared to 31 percent). Where does it end? Women are more likely to date for several years (21 percent) compared to men (11 percent), but men are somewhat more inclined to take it to the altar than women (27 percent versus 23 percent).
While these findings might raise some eyebrows, and prompt you to knock next time you open the stationery room, the frequency of office romances should not come as a surprise, given two principles of attraction, proximity and similarity, are in play. However, what may come as a surprise, is that 70 percent of organisations in the US do not have formal policies dealing with romantic liaisons between employees, according to the 2006 Workplace Romance survey by the Society for Human Resource Management. For the minority of companies that do have policies, fear of sexual harassment claims is the most common motivating factor.
