Office Romance Comes Out of the Supply Closet

More employees see no reason to hide their love, and bosses are on board
By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 10, 2010 2:28 PM CST
Office Romance Comes Out of the Supply Closet
The beginning of an office romance?   (Shutterstock)

The stigma of office romance is swiftly slipping away, bringing a time-honored—and surprisingly traditional—method of courtship out into the open. A recent survey shows 67% of employees see no reason to pretend they’re not dating a coworker, up from 54% in 2005. And no wonder. “The office keeps coming up No. 1” on surveys of where to meet a mate, a sociologist tells the Wall Street Journal.

Even management is getting on board, the professor says. With its popularity evident and the stigma disappearing, bosses feel they “have to be cool about it.” Generally, the one type of relationship still frowned upon is that between a supervisor and a subordinate. Beyond that, the idea is no longer taboo. “People have this notion that these relationships are scuzzy meetings in the supply closet,” says one author. In reality, “the office has become the last bastion of old-fashioned courting.” (More office romance stories.)

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