- According to a new consumer survey, nearly 40% of Brits believe office romances are a good idea
- In fact, 42% of Brits believe engaging in a fling with a colleague is BETTER for productivity, compared to just 17% of Italians
- Meanwhile, Germany sheds its stuffy image, with the data showing 40% of Germans surveyed have been in an office romance, and that 53% view workplaces romances favourably
Jobrapido, the world’s leading job search engine, has commissioned a Valentine’s Day themed survey on its database of registered users. Office romances are often viewed negatively with the age old adage ‘don’t dip your pen in the company ink’ being invoked. The company decided to find out what people really think about workplace relationships, what their experiences have been and how perceptions differ by country. The study, of over one thousand respondents, indicates clear cultural differences between the UK, Germany and Italy when it comes to perceptions and experiences around workplace romances.
In the United Kingdom, the survey revealed that 67% of respondents had never been in a workplace romance and that a mere 7% were currently engaged in one. Interestingly, of the 67% of respondents that said they had never been involved in a workplace relationship, almost one third attributed this to the belief that office romances are generally a bad idea. For those Brits who admitted to having been involved in a workplace romance, a staggering 42% lasted less than a year and over 50% said that their colleagues found out within a few weeks! And, in fact, despite 67% of Brits surveyed saying they had never been in an office relationship, two-thirds of all respondents actually believe office romances to be likely to occur.
In Italy, a country often associated with love, passion and romance, 67% of respondents claimed never to have been involved in a relationship with a colleague. Overall, Italians view office relationships quite negatively with 40% believing they have an adverse impact on productivity and only 17% believing they would increase productivity. This contrasted starkly with findings from the UK that showed as many as 42% of respondents believing their workplace performance improved somewhat. Results from Germany showed that up to 40% of the Germans surveyed have been in an office romance, with 53% having a positive view of finding love within the workplace.
Jobrapido CEO, Rob Brouwer said:
“Valentine’s Day has crept up on us again. However, increasingly busy lifestyles and more demanding workloads have led to people staying single for longer, and with less time to meet a partner. These results show that a significant number of people are finding love in the workplace, with Brits especially open to finding love in the office. A considerable number of the population even think a boost of love at work could increase productivity, all the more reason to find a stimulating job in the future.”
The survey, carried out by Jobrapido, took into account 1,045 survey responses from across the UK, Germany and Italy.
