Brits mix business with pleasure in the workplace

Research reveals almost half of Brits have been in an office romance

Key findings:

• 43 per cent of Brits have been romantically involved with a co-worker at some point in their career
• Each company in the UK has an average of six co-working couples dating
• The Civil Service tops the loved-up league table with an average of 10.7 relationships in each workplace
• 1 in 5 people have come across an office worker on a dating site or app

With Brits now spending a large majority of their waking hours at work, sparks are sure to fly between co-workers every now and then. New research from match today reveals that nearly half (43 per cent) of office workers have been intimately involved with someone that works at the same company.

The research by dating experts Match, who polled UK office workers, found out the extent to which love is in the air at the office, with 47 per cent of men admitting to having had a workplace romance compared to 38 per cent of women.

With the likes of Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie and Robert Pattinson and Kirsten Stewart making the world of acting notorious for its matchmaking capabilities, it turns out the UK workplace doesn’t lag far behind. Despite the stresses and strains often associated with the boardroom, UK offices are a hotbed for romance with an average of six relationships between colleagues in each place of work.

Those looking for an office romance would be best served becoming a Civil Servant with an average of 10.7 relationships in each office, closely followed by Financial services (9.0), IT services (8.2) and Government (8.2). In contrast, Publishing (3.5) and Sales (4.1) are industries to avoid for those on the lookout for a potential date.

Top 10 professions in UK to find an office romance

Despite the office kitchen or water machine seemingly being the ideal place to chat to a potential crush, almost half (45 per cent) of workers admit that they have connected with a colleague via a dating site, instead of speaking to them in person at work.

According to the research, one in five (20 per cent) of workers have come across a colleague on a dating app or site. Salon workers are particularly active online daters with almost half (45 per cent) saying they have seen a colleague’s profile pop-up when they are online.

Match dating expert Kate Taylor said, “Spending eight hours a day with someone is a recipe for irritation or passion and, in Britain’s workplaces, it looks like passion is winning. As more and more of us work from home or freelance, the office romance might start to decline. So it’s great if you can begin synching offline-dating with using online-dating profiles now. It’ll increase your chances of finding a date and, as this research shows, it’s a subtle way of discovering which of your colleagues are single and might be looking to date.”

For those that have found a match in their office, a quarter (23 per cent) said they chose to avoid any potential office gossip and went public about their relationship within a week. However, 13 per cent said they kept their relationship a secret from their work mates. And when it doesn’t work out nearly one in 10 (9 per cent) have left a previous job as the result of an office romance.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Survey conducted by Morar Consulting from 26^th to 28^th September 2016 among a representative sample of 1,215 persons aged 18+ currently employed in the UK.

Media Contacts

Brands2Life – 020 7592 1200 and matchconsumer@brands2life.com /  alex.mackenzie-grieve@brands2life.com

About Match: 

As the ultimate dating service in the UK, 1 in 2 online daters* have used Match and 1 in 5 singles who met their partner online, met on Match*.   As the number 1 dating for young online daters**, Match continues to empower singles to meet exciting and interesting people that you would not otherwise have met.

Match offers members more ways to meet, including singles events located in 32 cities, one of the reasons it’s been voted as the under 35’s number 1 choice for great singles night out**.  It’s also available on all mobile platforms making it the perfect dating companion for busy singles on-the-go.

As a founding member of the Online Dating Association (ODA), Match is committed to providing a safe and confidential community for its members.