LONDON, February 12 /PRNewswire/ --

- More than one-in-five end up marrying co-workers they dated -

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, it appears love is in the air and the workplace is not immune. Nearly four-in-ten (39 per cent) workers say they have dated a co-worker at some time during their careers, with 16 per cent admitting to doing so two or more times, according to CareerBuilder.co.uk's office romance survey of more than 500 workers. More than one-in-five (21 per cent) workers said they went on to marry the person they dated at work.

Comparing age groups, workers 18-24 were most likely (49 per cent) to say they have dated a co-worker during their careers, while workers 35-44 were least likely (35 per cent) to say they have done so.

Workers aren't just interested in dating their peers. Twenty-two per cent of workers admit they have dated someone with a higher position in their organization; female workers more so than males, at 30 per cent and fourteen per cent, respectively. Ninety-eight per cent of workers said their relationship with someone at work did nothing to progress their career.

"It appears dating in the office is becoming more acceptable as 69 per cent of workers say they do not have to keep their romances a secret at work," said Tony Roy, Managing Director of CareerBuilder.co.uk. "No matter how casual the office, it is important to always maintain the highest level of professionalism when dating a co-worker and keep any conflicts that may arise, outside the office."

Romance between co-workers rarely begins in the actual office, with 17 per cent of workers saying their relationships began at happy hour after work. Other situations where office romances found their spark included:

-- Ran in to each other outside of work (nine per cent) -- Love at first sight (eight per cent) -- Company holiday party (six per cent) -- At lunch (six per cent) -- Company off-site meeting (five per cent)

The survey also found that more than one-in-ten (12 percent) workers currently work with someone who they would like to date this year. When it comes to repercussions, seven per cent of workers say their office romance drove them to leave their job.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the United Kingdom by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.co.uk among 507 employees from the United Kingdom (employed full-time; not self-employed) ages 18 and over within the United Kingdom between November 20 and December 12, 2007, respectively. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of employees from the United Kingdom, and propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

About CareerBuilder.co.uk

CareerBuilder UK is the second most visited online job site in the United Kingdom, with more than 1.1 million unique visitors in November 2007, according to comScore. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), Tribune Company, The McClatchy Company (NYSE: MNI) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), CareerBuilder.co.uk powers the career centres for more than 160 individual UK sites that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. Job seekers visit CareerBuilder.co.uk every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic e-mail job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.co.uk.

Media Contact: Tanya Flynn +1-773-527-5393 Tanya.Flynn@careerbuilder.com Web site: http://www.careerbuilder.co.uk http://www.careerbuilder.com

Tanya Flynn of CareerBuilder, +1-773-527-5393, Tanya.Flynn@careerbuilder.com