Cupid is striking at the office, and employers are coming to terms with workplace dating, according to CareerBuilder.com's annual office romance survey. Although about half of workers say they have dated a co-worker -- similar to last year's results -- just 37 percent feel compelled to keep their relationship a secret, down from 46 percent a year go.

Workers aren't just dating their peers. Twenty-one percent of workers admit they have dated their boss, up from just 14 percent last year. Nearly four-in-ten say they have dated someone with a higher position in their organization.

While men were only slightly more likely to date their bosses than women were, they were far more inclined to say the relationship boosted their careers. Twenty-five percent of men who dated the boss said the relationship helped move their careers forward, compared with only 13 percent of women.

"Policies on office romance vary from company to company, and it's the responsibility of the worker to know where their employer stands," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. "It's important to remember that even if both sides are willing participants, office relationships could have repercussions. One-in-ten workers say their office romance drove them to leave their job."

Co-workers are most likely to couple up while working together on a project, with 22 percent of workers saying their relationships began that way. Other top situations where office romances found their spark:

   - Running into each other randomly outside work (11 percent)
   - Happy hour (10 percent)
   - Love at first sight (8 percent)
   - At lunch (8 percent)
   - Working late-night together (7 percent)

  Survey Methodology

CareerBuilder.com's survey, "Office Romance" was conducted from November 15 to December 6, 2005. Methodology used to collect survey responses totaling more than 2,050 workers for this study involved selecting a random sample of comScore Networks panel members. These Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to participate in a short online survey. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to within +/- 2.16 percentage points (19 times out of 20).

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more than 20 million unique visitors and over 1 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. , Tribune Company , and Knight Ridder, Inc. , the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 800 partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include more than 170 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. The nation's top employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 15 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic email job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/.

   Media Contact:
   Jennifer Sullivan
   (773) 527-1164
   Jennifer.Sullivan@careerbuilder.com

SOURCE: CareerBuilder.com