The share of employees who say they’re comfortable with coworkers dating each other fell from 81% to 57% in a single year, according to SHRM’s newest annual research on workplace romance.
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The drop, a 24-percentage-point swing between 2025 and 2026, comes even as workplace romance itself remains common: 47% of employees say they’re currently in, or have previously been in, a romantic relationship with a coworker. SHRM surveyed 1,243 employed U.S. workers on December 8, 2025, for the employee side of the research, and 1,553 HR professionals from December 4-9, 2025, through its Voice of Work Research Panel.
The gap between how often office romance happens and how comfortable people say they are with it points to a workplace where dating a colleague has quietly become more fraught, even as it stays widespread. SHRM’s research frames the shift as part of a broader move toward secrecy, noting that most employees involved in a workplace relationship keep it hidden from managers and HR rather than disclosing it upfront.
Key Points
- Comfort with coworkers dating dropped from 81% in 2025 to 57% in 2026.
- 47% of employees have been in a workplace romance at some point.
- The employee survey covered 1,243 workers; a separate HR professional survey covered 1,553 respondents.
- Most workplace relationships are kept hidden from managers and HR rather than disclosed.
The shift arrives as more companies formalize policies around workplace relationships, including disclosure requirements and “love contracts,” and as remote and hybrid schedules change how often coworkers even cross paths outside of work. For employees weighing whether to date a colleague, SHRM’s data suggests the social cost of that choice has risen sharply, even if the romances themselves haven’t slowed down.
