Getting involved in office romances

Lots of people are dabbling in romance at the workplace. A recent Office Romance Survey by career publisher Vault Inc. shed some light on just how many of us are actually breaking those "no dating" policies.
The study found:

• A whopping 58% of those asked have had an office romance.
  
  
• 27.5% admit to having had a ‘tryst’ in the office.
  
  
• And a surprising 50% have known a married co-worker engaging in an affair with someone else at the workplace!
  

To dig a little deeper, I asked around to see what people really thought about dating in the office. I wanted to know if people really had gotten involved with someone at work.

I’m surrounded by gorgeous ladies all day long. This makes staying away from office dating kind of hard.

And if so, what happened? Was the ending happy or a disaster? And what kind of tips should anyone thinking of indulging an office affair beware of. Here’s a few of the things I heard:



Sam - Sales Representative at an international beverage company
Honestly, I’m surrounded by gorgeous ladies all day long. This makes staying away from office dating kind of hard. Yes, I have dated some of the people I work with. I guess there were about 4 or 5. They didn’t work out but at least most of us can still work together. There was one that got way out of control.

She really let everyone in the office know about our breakup and couldn’t stop talking about what a terrible guy I was. But I probably shouldn’t have gotten involved with someone working under me. I won’t make that mistake again! As long as they are in another department, sure... I’ll date them... why not.

Mathew - It Support Technician at a call-center
Did I ever date a girl in my office? No way! That’s just asking for trouble. But I only know that because I’ve heard all the gossip about other colleagues. There are so many girls out there that my advice is to go out and find one of them. Don’t limit your options to people you have to see everyday anyways.

Marie - Human Resources Manager at a market research company
Dating people at work is out of the question for me. Because I’m in HR, I’m supposed to be the one promoting the "please don’t hook up with others in the office" stance of the company. But it also means I eventually get to hear a lot of juicy details. When breakups in our office get messy, they usually get leaked to me so that I will have to file a report (if someone wants to cause problems that is). To write these reports I have to talk with both sides..and man, do people get nasty!

I suppose my advice to people having office relationships is to really consider what you’re doing. If it’s really love then that’s great. But let me just say that a lot of time the breakup causes more problems than the brief affair was ever worth. If you are with someone in the office, just try to act like a professional. Keep your home life at home... don’t bring it with you to the office.

If you are interested in someone you work with and considering getting involved with them, there’re plenty of articles available on the topic.

To make an already-started romance successful check out: Office Romance or Office Romance Survival Guide. If you are in charge at work and want to know how to deal with inter-office dating see Romance In The Office Can Lead To Marriage Or To A Lawsuit.

Workplace romance doesn’t have to be difficult. Just make sure you’ve given it a lot of thought beforehand and that you’re strategic about your behavior in the office.

Wishing you luck in love.