SURVEY: #MeToo movement drops workplace romances to 10-year-low

According to a survey from Career Builders workplace, romances have hit a 10 year low.

CBS:

With the rise of the #MeToo movement and national crackdown on harassment in the workplace, a survey on office romance says love is not in the air when it comes to co-workers dating.

CareerBuilder’s annual Valentine’s Day poll found that office romances have fallen to a 10-year low with only 36 percent of workers admitting to dating a co-worker. Just last year, the same survey reported that 41 percent of co-workers had dated.

They go on.

“Office romance is experiencing a dip and whether it’s impacted by the current environment around sexual harassment or by workers not wanting to admit the truth, the fact remains that office romance has been around forever and will continue to be,” CareerBuilder’s Rosemary Haefner said in a press release. While the survey shows a growing stigma around office relationships, 31 percent of workers who dated at work ended up getting married, according to the poll.

“The #MeToo movement is splashing cold water on whatever embers of romance are struggling to survive between men and women,” Dr. Carole Lieberman told Reuters.

Careerbuilder cites the growing focus on inappropriate behavior in the workplace, exemplified by the dozens of high-profile male executives fired or forced to resign in the wake of sexual harassment claims. “One good aspect of the #MeToo movement might be an increased emphasis on communication when it comes to sex and romance,” said Liz Wolfe, managing editor of Young Voices.

CareerBuilder recommends that workers avoid dating supervisors that they work for or subordinates that work for them. “To avoid negative consequences at work, it’s important to set ground rules within your relationship that help you stay professional,” Haefner, CareerBuilder’s chief of human resources adds.

I am by no means attacking the Me Too movement by covering this story but it is important to look at the consequences of movements such as this. We must make sure that we stand against actual mistreatment of women or men at the workplace. We must be equally sure that we allow people to innocence until proven guilty. Men and Women being attracted to each other is only natural and by making this natural attraction a bad thing you are hurting society as a whole.