Discomfort Doesn’t Stop Office Romance

February 10, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Although workers report some negatives about romance with a colleague, 59% say they have had an office romance and of those who have had office romances, 63% said they would participate in one again.

Vault’s 2011 Office Romance Survey,found a little under a third of both sexes have suffered some level of discomfort over an intra-office relationship between two other co-workers, but women are significantly more likely to worry about the impact of their own workplace flings on their co-workers than men are. Of those who had been in office romances, 34% of women felt the experience impacted their personal or professional relationships with other coworkers, while just 26% of men report having felt the same way.  

While 23% of men and 15% of women claim to have had short-term flings at work, the numbers almost reverse when it comes to long-term, serious relationships blossoming at the office: 22% of women and just 14.7% of men report being in or having had such.  

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According to a press release, relationships between coworkers at different levels were deemed to be the least appropriate out of any kind of office romance: 34% of respondents say such relationships are “unacceptable.”  

Of those respondents who had participated in office flings, fewer than 20% had dated a supervisor, and only a quarter had dated a subordinate. But where relationships at different levels do occur, men date subordinates twice as much as women do (34% vs. 13%), and are half as likely to have dated a supervisor (14% vs. 24%).  

Thirty-eight percent of respondents told Vault they felt they had been in situations where a coworker gained a professional advantage because of a romantic relationship with a colleague or superior.  

One-third of those who have had office romances admitted to having trysts in the office, with 4% getting caught in the act.  

Two-thirds (65%) of respondents say the down economy has had no effect on their willingness to take romantic risks at work, with only 31% claiming that they are less willing now than before the recession.

Are Resumes Headed for the Job Hunting Trash Heap?

February 10, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Just over a third of hiring managers say an online profile on a social networking site will replace traditional resumes.

A poll by OfficeTeam found 36% believe it likely or somewhat likely that the change will occur. A news release said the respondents were asked how likely it was that the networking site profiles on sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn would become a hiring manager’s go-to place for job candidate information.

In addition to the 8% finding it very likely and 28% somewhat likely, 42% thought it was not very likely and 21% judged it not at all likely.

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“The resume continues to be an important job-hunting tool, but it’s also useful for professionals to create online profiles that highlight their expertise and qualifications,” said OfficeTeam executive director Robert Hosking, in the news release. “As hiring managers turn increasingly to the Internet for information about prospective hires, job seekers should keep their online profiles current and behave professionally in the digital space.”  

The survey was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on telephone interviews with more than 500 HR managers at companies with 20 or more employees.

 

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