Romance in the Office

Office romance has generally been frowned upon, but that may be changing as it becomes more and more common and less and less of a clandestine adventure. The office is the perfect setting for romance. Two people working closely together for long hours who can relate to each others jobs and relate to each other without the encumberances of their real life. That's a romance recipe.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, CareerBuilder.com released its Office Romance Study. The study found that 40 percent of workers have dated a co-worker at some point during their careers. (Twenty percent of the 40 have dated a co-worker more than once.) And the big surprise is that 29 percent of those workers say they went on to marry the person they dated at work. (No data on the divorce rate.)

But office love is for the young. If you're over 55, you are least likely (34 percent) to have dated a co-worker. Younger employees, workers aged 35 to 44, were the most likely candidates for office relationships.

The corporate ladder doesn't seem to matter much, either. It turns out that you don't need to be at the same job level in order to date. Twenty-seven percent of the workers surveyed said they'd dated someone in a higher position than them. No surprise: Female workers are more likely to have dated a co-worker at a higher level (37 percent compared to 20 percent of males). Of the workers who have dated co-workers, 98 percent said their relationship with someone at work did nothing to progress their careers.

Swearing to secrecy seems to be a thing of the past. Sixty-six percent say that they do not have to keep their romances a secret at work.

Proving the old adage about the best way to a man's heart, 11 percent of the office relationships in the survey began at lunch. Ten percent say they began by working after hours together (10 percent). Love at first sight was reported by 10 percent and "at a company office party" (two percent) trailed.

Fear of lawyers and their suits is probaby the greatest impediment to office romance acceptance. Some firms are creating love contracts that permit employees to disclose their office romances while shielding employers from liability or harassment suits. 

In honor of the cupid of the office place, ‘fess up. How's your office romance life?