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Thirty-One Percent of Canadian Workers Have Dated a Co-Worker

-- Fourteen percent have dated a colleague who was married --

Toronto, February 12, 2007 -- It appears Cupid has been putting in overtime at the workplace. Thirty-one percent of Canadian workers have dated a colleague, and 15 percent of these workers went on to marry their office sweetheart, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.ca. Nearly one-in-four (24 percent) say there is someone in their office whom they would like to date in the near future. The survey, "Office Romance in Canada 2007," was conducted between November 17 and December 11, 2006 and included more than 400 workers.

Workers aren't just romancing their peers. Seventeen percent of Canadian employees have dated someone who holds a higher position in their organizations, and 8 percent have dated their bosses. Thirty-two percent of women have dated someone at a higher job level, significantly higher than the 8 percent of men who admit they have done the same.

Employees are dating across other lines. Fourteen percent admit they have had a relationship with a married co-worker. Not surprisingly, 29 percent of workers say they had to keep their office romance a secret while at work.

"Forty-two percent of Canadian workers say their workloads have increased over the last six months," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources for CareerBuilder.com. "With workers spending so much time together, it's not surprising that employees are making romantic connections. Still, workers need to be aware that office romances could impede their career progress. Even if your employer does not have a formal policy banning these relationships, proceed with caution and be sure to maintain your professionalism at all times."

Co-worker relationships were most likely to spark at after-hours social events. Twenty percent of workers said their relationship with a co-worker began at an after-work happy hour or at the company holiday party. Other top scenarios include:

  • Love at first sight (13 percent)
  • Running into each other outside work (13 percent)
  • Late night working (11 percent)
  • At lunch (9 percent)

    • Survey Methodology
    This survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 422 workers (employed full-time; not self employed) and 225 hiring managers (employed full-time; not self employed; with at least some involvement in hiring decisions), ages 18 and over within Canada between November 17 and December 11, 2006. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online. The 'Employer' segment was weighted by number of employees to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population. Both segments were weighted using propriety algorithms in order to align the online population to be more representative demographically and behaviorally of the total population of online and offline workers.

    With a pure probability sample of 422 or 225 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/- 5 and +/- 7 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from subsamples would be higher and would vary. However that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

    About CareerBuilder.ca
    CareerBuilder LLC is Canada's third largest visited job site, according to comScore Media Metrix Career Resources subcategory November 2006. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder.ca powers the career centers for more than 75 Canadian partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include leading portals such as Lycos Canada and AOL Canada. Job seekers visit CareerBuilder.ca every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic e-mail job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.ca products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.ca.

    CareerBuilder.ca Media Contact
    Michael Erwin
    Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
    773-527-3637
    michael.erwin@careerbuilder.com

    CareerBuilder Media Contact
    For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:

    Jennifer Grasz
    (P) 773-527-1164
    (E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com