Office Romance: 4 in 10 Workers Admit To Having One, Survey Finds

While office romances may be common, a new survey suggests they don't always end with a fairytale ending.

The survey, conducted by jobs website CareerBuilder, found that 39 percent of workers admit to dating a co-worker at least once in their careers, while 17 percent report dating a co-worker at least twice. Of those, 30 percent said their office romance led to marriage.

According to the survey, 29 percent of those who admit to dating someone at work said they dated someone above them in the company hierarchy. Another 16 percent admitted to dating their boss, the CareerBuilder survey said. Of those dating higher-ups, 38 percent are women and 21 percent are men.

What starts off these office relationships? According to the survey, happy hour (12 percent), running into each other outside of work (12 percent) and late nights at work (12 percent) were among the top reasons cited for the start of the relationships. Lunch between co-workers was also a popular response (11 percent).

While most workers in the survey said they were open about their office romances, 35 percent said they decided to remain quiet about their office relationships.

The survey also revealed leisure & hospitality is the top industry for office romances. It's followed by: information technology, financial, healthcare and professional & business services. The 4,216 workers interviewed for the survey also revealed that what someone does for a living is a factor in the dating decision (26 percent). Six percent said they were dumped because they were either working too much, not making enough money or their partner didn't like their line of work.