Bosses, Coworkers, and Building Great Work Relationships (HBR Work Smart Series)

12 Is Working with Your Romantic Partner a Good Match?

An interview with Sean Horan by Vasundhara Sawhney

From Harvey Specter and Donna Paulsen in Suits to Noh Ji-wook and Eun Bong-hee in Suspicious Partner, workplace romances are prevalent in popular media. IRL, too, crushing on a coworker is common: One SHRM survey found that half of U.S. workers have dated a colleague—mostly peers (70%) but also their supervisors (18%) and subordinates (21%).¹ In the United Kingdom, that number jumps to two-thirds of workers (66%).²

While some may find those metrics surprising, research shows that office romances are on the decline. The current climate around sexual harassment in the wake of the #MeToo movement has likely (and rightfully) played a factor, ...