Romantic relationships often develop at work, not because people are seeking them out, but because work brings individuals into close and repeated contact over time.
Surveys show that more than 60% of adults have been involved in a relationship that started at work, and a significant share of these relationships later became long-term partnerships. Familiarity, routine interaction, and shared experience play a central role. People tend to connect with colleagues they feel comfortable around and who understand the demands of their professional lives.
How these relationships affect teams
According to Emily Nix, long-term administrative data tracking workers across Finland over 30 years shows that workplace relationships rarely affect only the people involved. When a manager-subordinate relationship begins, organizations experience higher employee turnover. Retention drops by about 6 percentage points, meaning more people leave compared to similar organizations without such relationships. Smaller firms tend to feel this effect more strongly, especially when the subordinate received noticeable pay increases during the relationship.
For coworkers, uncertainty is often the main issue. Many report feeling uncomfortable, distracted, or unsure how to interpret decisions related to pay and advancement. Even when no rules are broken, the lack of clarity can weaken confidence in leadership and reduce morale. Trust, once questioned, is difficult to restore.
What happens when relationships end
The most significant consequences appear after a breakup. Data shows that subordinates experience a sharp decline in earnings following the end of a workplace relationship, with income falling by an average of 18% and remaining lower for several years. Employment stability also weakens. Individuals are more likely to leave the workforce entirely in the year after a breakup compared to those whose relationships were outside their workplace.
These outcomes help explain why workplace relationships often feel difficult to exit. When a breakup also threatens income, reputation, or future opportunities, people may remain in situations longer than they otherwise would. Nearly one third of couples report planning in advance for how they would handle a breakup, reflecting the higher stakes involved when personal and professional lives are intertwined.
When do organizations set boundaries
These patterns help explain why many organizations now rely on formal policies to manage workplace relationships.
Most employees who enter such relationships report them to HR, and companies increasingly set rules to reduce conflicts of interest. According to HR leaders surveyed by SHRM, the goal is not to prevent relationships, but to limit situations where personal ties influence supervision, evaluation, or career progression.
With that being said, workplace relationships do not fail because people act irrationally, but because organizations underestimate how power, visibility, and dependency reshape behavior once intimacy enters the system. The evidence points to the need for judgment and structure rather than moral rules.
Leaders and professionals should approach workplace romance with the same seriousness applied to any factor that affects trust and career mobility:
- Separate intimacy from authority by removing supervision, evaluation, or pay influence wherever a relationship involves power
- Protect mobility by ensuring that career progression, exits, and transitions remain viable regardless of personal outcomes
- Stabilize trust by recognizing that perception matters as much as intent, and by reducing ambiguity for coworkers.
Handled deliberately, workplace relationships do not have to undermine organizations. Left informal, they tend to concentrate risk on the least powerful person and quietly erode confidence in systems meant to be fair.
Written on 12 Feb 2026.
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