Newbies are often tempted by the thought of office romance. For starters, time spent socializing no longer needs to be used to try to find a significant other, since he or she is already willing and able to go to Happy Hour once those pesky TPS reports are completed before deadline.
Dating someone in the office can also make going to work much more tolerable. Sure, you may loathe the job itself, but since that special someone is sitting only two cubes away is available for flirty glances and emails, holding-hands-across-the-table lunches and the aforementioned exhilarating elevator or conference room quickie, suddenly those weekdays in the corporate salt mines aren’t exactly tedious anymore.
Since you’re stuck in the same environment, you probably have similar interests—a huge factor when choosing a worthy potential partner from the otherwise muddled dating pool. For example, let’s say you work in finance. The girl you’re dating, who happens to work for the same company in the same building, does the same. You therefore know that she likely majored in the same field as you, likely runs in a similar circle of friends and most definitely will be willing to listen to every complaint you may have about working for that particular company or in the industry in general. Many couples that work in different offices do this the moment they get home from their respective jobs.
Another possible benefit: He or she won’t beg you to stay in a bed a little longer and certainly won’t bitch about you not being able to meet for dinner because you’re working late. The understanding and common ground has been already been established. And as we all know, managing expectations in a relationship is everything.
Of course, if an office romance crumbles, well, the pain seems to certainly outweigh the pleasure.
According to a survey by Monster Worldwide last year, 35 percent of U.S. employees said that office romance should not be allowed because it produces too many on and off-the-job problems. Of course, this depends on how seriously you take your career or how much you enjoy working at a particular company.
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