Gen Z and HR have killed office romance — as fewer…
Looks like Cupid didn’t survive layoffs.
Office romances are going cold across the US – where office crushes, coworker dates and steamy office flings have gotten less and less common every yr, survey data reveals.
Just 22% of workers surveyed by the human assets group SHRM in 2025 said that they had a office crush – a staggering drop from the 49% who admitted the same in 2024.
Office romances are going cold across the US, according to a startling survey by the human assets group SHRM. deagreez – stock.adobe.com
Only 16% of employees said they’d gone on a date with a colleague in the past yr, down from 21% the earlier yr.
Meanwhile, office hookups have gotten even more uncommon. Just 7% of workers admitting to having a “risky romantic encounter” on the job in 2025 – down from the 13% who confessed to an office romp the yr before.
But it’s not just a short-term thrill that’s vanishing.
The office used to be a major source of discovering a husband or spouse. About 20% of adults over 50 said they met their partner on the job, according to a 2020 Pew Research Center survey.
Only 13% of people aged 18 to 29 said the same.
Only 16% of employees said they’d gone on a date with a colleague in the past yr, down from 21% the earlier yr. SHRM
According to the report, a majority of managers said that office relationships had a optimistic affect on workforce dynamics. SHRM
In a 2020 Pew Research Center survey, bout 20% of adults over 50 said they met their partner on the job. SHRM
Writer Juno Kelly urged in a provocatively headlined New York Times column, “Go On, Date Your Co-Workers” that this was down to the rise of online courting among youthful people and intensive HR inappropriate harassment training.
“It feels as if the risk outweighs the reward,” she wrote.
However, Kelly urged that returning to more accountable office courting tradition may clear up Gen Z’s courting blahs.
More than a third of singles under 30 said they’re not in courting, and half said they’re not wanting.
“Where else in adulthood except the office would you bond with a potential paramour you share so much of everyday life with,” Kelly urged.
Just 7 p.c of workers said that they have had a “risky romantic encounter” while on the job. SHRM
Other old-school methods of discovering love – through church, buddies, faculty or neighbors – also noticed sharp declines across generations, according to a Stanford examine, which discovered that 40% of {couples} had been assembly online by 2017.
Among the comparatively small share of employees still mixing business with pleasure, more than half said they had been hoping to discover true love.
Another 40% admitted they had been motivated by pleasure, journey or lust, while almost 30% said they had been in search of profession developments, security or energy through office romance, the SHRM survey discovered.
Just 7% of workers admitted to having a “risky romantic encounter” on the job in 2025 – down from the 13% who confessed to an office romp the yr before. Svyatoslav Lypynskyy – stock.adobe.com
Among the comparatively small share of employees still mixing business with pleasure, more than half said they had been hoping to discover true love. SHRM
About one in 5 of those employees also confessed to participating in public shows of affection on the job.
Just as shockingly, the bulk of office managers surveyed – 63% – said that romances between people on their workforce had a optimistic affect on office dynamics, while only 12% said that they had a adverse impact.
“Workplace romances are an inherent part of the professional world, but they bring unique challenges,” SHRM President and CEO Johnny C. Taylor Jr. said about the findings.
“This research underscores the need for clear policies, effective training, and an organizational culture fostering transparency and fairness. By addressing these dynamics thoughtfully, organizations can minimize risks while respecting employees’ personal connections.”
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