How Many People Admit to Office Romances? Survey Sheds Some Light [AUDIO]

Have you ever been involved in an office romance? If you answered yes, you're not alone.

A recent survey by CareerBuilder found that four in ten have admitted to dating a co-worker and a third went on to marry that person.

But, where should you draw the line?

"With everything, you want to weigh the risks and benefits," said Jennifer Grasz, Vice President of Corporate Communications at CareerBuilder. "You definitely see long-term successful relationships coming out of office romances, but you also see the flip side where relationships don't work out and you're in an uncomfortable situation. So, I think you want to proceed with caution because you could find your future spouse, but you could find your future nemesis."

Most Dated Peers

According to the survey, most of the office romances were relationships between peers, but 29 percent admitted dating 'higher-ups' in the organization while 16 percent said they had dated the boss.

"It's never really a good idea to date the boss," said Grasz. "That can cause morale issues and resentment among team members. So, if there is a mutual interest between a boss and a direct report, it's probably best if one of the employees goes to another team."

Being that adults spend a great deal of time at the office, it's only natural to meet and spend time with work colleagues.

Dating among co-workers was most common in the leisure and hospitality industry. It was also prevalent in the information technology sector, financial services, professional business services and health care.

"The leisure and hospitality industry is very social in nature, so whether you work at a resort or a restaurant, it's more conducive to social interaction," said Grasz. "The others often involve long hours, so people in those fields are spending a great deal of time at the office and those relationships happen very naturally because of the time spent together."

A word of caution, be careful what you share on social media sites. "Sometimes people forget who they are friends with and they often wind up outing their relationship with a co-worker before they are ready to talk about it," said Grasz.