One Third of Office Romances Lead to Altar

According to CareerBuilder’s annual office romance survey, 31% of workers have dated a co-worker at least once over the course of their career, and 17% have dated coworkers at least twice. Thirty-one percent said their office romance led them to the altar.

While the majority of relationships developed between workers in comparable job levels, 28% of workers who dated a coworker said they have dated someone above them in the company hierarchy, and nearly one-in-five (18%) admitted to dating their boss. Women were more likely to date someone higher up in their organization: 35% compared to 23% of men.

Hospitality leads the way among industries for office romances (47% of workers dated a co-worker), followed by financial services (45%), transportation and utilities (43%), information technology (40%), and health care (38%).

More than one-in-four workers (26%) reported that what someone does for a living influences whether they would date that person. Five percent of workers said someone broke up with them because their job required too many hours at the office, they didn’t make enough money, or the person didn’t like their line of work.

While the majority of workers tended to date people in different professions or functions, nearly one-in-five (19%) reported that they are more attracted to people who have a similar job.

Social settings outside of the office were cited most often in regard to workers connecting on a romantic level. Running into each other outside of work (13%), happy hours (12%), and lunches (11%) were among the most popular catalysts. Late nights at work were mentioned by 10%.

Most workers who have had office romances said they were open about their dating situation. Thirty-seven percent reported they had to keep the relationship under wraps.