Office Romance By The Numbers

One in four workers say they are involved in a romantic relationship with a colleague, or have been recently.

One in three office relationships end in at least one person being fired.

Seventeen percent of those who remain were moved to a different department.

Five percent of office affairs lead to litigation.

About 60 percent of employers have some kind of policy regarding romantic relationships in the office.

Among those, seventy percent ban relationships between managers and subordinates.

“In the aftermath of the #MeToo movement, one task that falls to HR now more than ever is making sure that workplace relationships are safe and do not impact the overall culture of the office,” says Andrew Challenger, vice president of a Chicago-based outplacement and career transitioning firm. He notes that real-life office romances aren’t as straightforward as they are portrayed on television. “Unequal power, unclear boundaries, bad breakups, and office politics all have potentially career-ending and life-altering consequences for employees,” he says.