Office romances are more accepted than ever in the 21st century workplace. Vault.com 2014 annual Office Romance Survey highlights workplace romances gradually becoming more acceptable among survey respondents!
Vault’s Office Romance Survey was conducted in January with responses from 1,864 employees representing various industries across the U.S. Men and Women of varying ages discussed their office romances.
Check out these results:
Office Romances – Men vs. Women
Men and women are equally likely to engage in an office romance – 55% of men surveyed said they have participated in some type of workplace relationship while 56% of women surveyed have done the same.
- 19% of men reported instances of “random hookups” with colleagues, compared to 12% of women
- 17% of women report that office romances led to “long-term relationships”, compared to just 11% of men.
- 20% of women have dated a supervisor while only 9% of men have dated their boss
- 25% of men have dated a subordinate while only 10% of women have dated their subordinate
- 70% men stated they would do it again while 62% women would date someone in the workplace again.
Office Romances by Industry
- Consulting Industry – 52%
- Insurance – 72%
- Education – 70%
- Finance & Banking – 60%
- Government – 60%
- Manufacturing 59%
- Tech – 56%
- Energy – 55%
- Law and Accounting 49%
Office romances are not for everyone. Of those surveyed, 39% said they have avoided a potential romance that they would have otherwise pursued.
Unfortunately Vault’s survey does not ask about customer or client romances. Those relationships can be just as problematic. My advice to employers is to set up an Office Romance Policy that incorporates the following:
1. Requires disclosure
2. Create a “Love Contract”
3. Advises the employees against public displays of affection
4. Monitor the other employees in the office regarding their sentiments
Reference: Reference: http://www.vault.com/blog/workplace-issues/love-is-in-the-air-vaults-2014-office-romance-survey/
For more on this you can watch my Fox News Accelerator interview. https://www.dashrconsulting.com/fox-news-career-acceleator-interview/
