July 18, 2013
Is an Office Romance a Good Idea?

About 75 percent of office romances don't survive. However, a small percentage do. Here are the pros and cons of dating a coworker:

Pros:

• If you've had a hard day, he or she will get it because you work at the same place.   
• You get to see them – a lot.  It's very sweet to see each other at the water cooler and touch fingers.  (Although, I'm not entirely sure this should be on the "pros" list because couples do need breaks from each other. However, it's a pro in the beginning of a relationship when you feel like you need to be in each other's pockets all day).  
• You get to learn a lot about them in different circumstances with colleagues, pressure, etc.
• You have one more thing in common because you're both experiencing the same work environment.
• If you or your boyfriend or girlfriend are having some troubles at work, you can give each other advice because you both know the atmosphere.

That being said, office romances require two incredibly mature people, and the odds of two incredibly mature people being in the same place at the same time is not great.  So let's move on to the cons.

Cons:

• Gossip: You think it was tough in high school?  Everybody is going to notice.  You're going to become part of a scenario of guilt, discomfort, and sibling rivalry. And, most importantly, the soap opera will distract you from what you're there to do – work!
• Whenever you fight, going to work won't be a haven. Instead, it will be yet another place to be aggravated (but you still have to act civilly – good luck!)
• Envy. If you're dating a superior, be prepared for office envy. Other people are going to have a hard time with it because they will assume that you have perks they don't, and that's not good for business. 
• You see them all the time. The flipside of seeing each other all the time is that you're seeing each other ALL the time, which can create its own stresses.
• If the relationship goes south, you'll still be in close proximity to each other, which may be uncomfortable.

As I said before, office romances only make it about 25 percent of the time, so statistically, you are taking a big risk.  In my case, it did work.  My husband and I both taught at a major university, and we fell into the small percentage that makes it happen.  However, I still wouldn't recommend it because we were in the minority.  Frankly, I would go elsewhere if I were you.  

Posted by Staff at 11:51 AM