Business telecommunications provider, 4Com recently investigated Britons attitudes towards their colleagues1 and found that 75% have made lifelong friends with co-workers, and nearly half of these (41%) have a ‘work spouse’.
75% of us have a work spouse
For lifelong friends made in the workplace, the research revealed the following as the top three reasons why people have chosen to make these friendships:
- It makes them enjoy their job more (72%)
- They can count on them to have their back should anything go wrong (38%)
- It makes them look forward to the day ahead (36%)
For those who answered ‘yes’ to referring to a colleague as their ‘work spouse’, the top three reasons were:
- They can trust them with their secrets (17%)
- They make them laugh and smile whenever they’re around (13%)
- They argue like husband and wife (12%)
When asked if they feel comfortable merging their work friends with non-work friends, 13% said they wouldn’t combine the two groups as they prefer to keep their work and personal lives separate - could this be because they don’t want their non-work friends or partner to meet their ‘work spouse’?
This reluctance to combine the two groups of people causes further suspicion when paired with YouGov2 research which has revealed over a third (36%) of Brits think it’s easier to cheat on a partner now than it was 20 years or so ago.
The top three industries that think it’s easier to cheat on a partner now than it was 20 years or so ago, are:
- HR (49%)
- Sales (47%)
- Distribution (43%)
What’s more, UK workers aren’t shy about developing a romantic relationship in the workplace...
Data released by totaljobs3 revealed two-thirds (66%) of Britons would happily date a colleague,and one in five (22%) have met a partner at work.
Below, workers describe how their friendships with colleagues turned into something other than “just friends”.
Having met her boyfriend at work, Leah from London, says: “I met my current boyfriend when I started my first job after university – my desk was next to his. He has a big personality and is very funny, so it was hard to ignore him, and we got on straight away! We thought we had kept our romance a secret, but it turns out everybody knew, so it was quite funny when they told us we hadn’t hidden things very well. My friends were supportive when I told them, but everyone always asks the question, “what if you break up?” But we’re currently two years in and still going strong, so hopefully, we never have to find out!
Stefanie from Yorkshire, said: “I met my husband in 2004 when I worked as a manager at the marketing agency he owned. He threw a party at his house for his 40th birthday and invited the office. On the way home, I texted a colleague to say how much I liked him but accidentally sent it to him. When he replied, “what are you talking about?” I was mortified and confessed. He didn’t reply, and I was in a huge panic that my job would be on the line.
“To my surprise, a few days later he invited me to have lunch with him and then for dinner at his house. For several months we kept things quiet as we didn’t want colleagues to treat either of us differently but eventually our relationship was outed when a colleague spotted me getting out of his car around the corner from work one morning and I confessed. Some colleagues treated me differently and had an issue that I was dating the boss. Others were shocked. We got engaged in April 2006 and married in July 2007, a month after he sold the company and left whilst I stayed until October. We now have two children together and we’re very happy.”
Miranda Kyte from London, says: “I met my boyfriend, Matt, whilst working at the same digital marketing agency. I was based in the PR department and he was based in the SEO department. A mutual friend at work prompted us both to go for a drink after work and from that moment we got close. We started seeing each other which we didn’t keep secret as gossip spreads like wildfire, however, I didn’t start speaking about it openly until we started officially dating. Work was completely fine; however, we did sometimes get funny looks from other members of staff. We’ve now been together for two and a half years and we’re set to move in together this year. Exciting times!”
Commenting on the research, Mark Pearcy, Head of Marketing at 4Com, said: “We spend a lot of time with our colleagues, more so than with our other friends and family, so it’s nice to see we’re building strong and meaningful relationships with these people. It’s also lovely to hear that having strong workplace friendships makes people look forward to the day ahead and enjoy their job more – but I wonder what our partners would say about our work spouses?”
To find out more or learn how you can make the best of workplace friendships, head to:https://www.4com.co.uk/blog/business-advice/do-you-have-a-work-spouse/
Tagged in relationships