Has Gen Z inherited the millennial abhorrence for office romance? Did MeToo kill it for them? Enough surveys have proved Gen Z’s chill attitude toward workplace romance: we’re okay with wherever love finds us. What else can you expect from a generation parched in the dry ditches of dating apps?
We are also big K-drama fans, which are mostly about office romance. Giggling by the water cooler while the reverse cupid (read HR) watches you like a hawk is thrilling, like all forbidden acts. Stolen glances in the canteen, coordinated cigarette breaks, and buzzing DMs during a Teams meeting is how the covert drama unfolds. And when things go south, it usually ends up with one person updating their LinkedIn with ‘open to work’.
Since we live in a relatively PoSH-compliant world, people crushing on their managers aren’t announcing it on social media as much as they post their weekend brunches. And managers are definitely not talking about pining over a team member. But that doesn’t mean it’s not happening.
You’d be surprised how many people are braving the minefields of misconduct, and flouting company policy to hook up with a cutie at work. These are the people who never want work-from-home. Their whole team knows about their affair and has seen too much of it at post-work drinking sessions, but nobody says a word. That’s just juicy gossip for private Slack channels.
I’ve been told that few people really care about the no-dating-at-office rule. Everyone dozes off while the HR department gives lengthy presentations on it. Dating in 2025 is an actual threat to life, so a threat to career is practically a minor inconvenience. Hope springs eternal.
Ask my doctor friend who is fighting constant battles with her superiors who don’t approve of her eye-specialist boyfriend. She isn’t even scared to flaunt him on Instagram. Come what may, she says, as if she’s playing a heroine in the Daryaganj version of Grey’s Anatomy.
My other friend, who just got married to her senior from work, wasn’t quite so bold. She kept her relationship under wraps—at least in theory. Everyone already knew why two very cosy coworkers kept taking sick leave on the exact same dates, but they all played along—until they saw the ring ceremony pictures.
When cosy colleagues turn awkward exes
It’s obviously not funny how messy things get when an office romance goes sour. It’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. To counter the actual cases of harassment, men’s rights groups on X (read Twitter) keep ranting about women who take revenge by falsely accusing their exes of sexual assault. I’ve never met these women but let’s assume they exist.
Then there’s the nasty power play. A junior dating a senior starts acting insubordinate and the senior can’t say anything because, well, it’s a bad look. In extreme cases, miffed lovers have been seen fighting in the middle of the bullpen. That just spoils lunchtime for everyone.
The rule-breakers don’t have it easy. A 25-year-old social media editor at a publishing firm had to give up her perfect match in the graphic designing department. Even before the second date could lead to a third one, the judgement from her colleagues made the whole thing supremely awkward.
There’s also this gold gossip I found on Twitter the other day. One HR professional paired a new staff with another employee for onboarding and the two ended up falling in love with each other. Now the anti-cupid has to do the devil’s work—firing them both.
It’s quite impressive how HR can sniff out romance, or even the ghost of it. They are, in fact, more competent than Indian parents and neighbouring aunties. One Delhi girl made her boyfriend apply for a job at her firm, but by the time he was recruited, the two had already broken up. It was bad enough to look at his cheery face by the coffee pot every morning but then came the real kicker, a call from the manager. The HR had found a picture of the ex-couple on Instagram. The girl was summoned for a meeting to declare that she doesn’t like him anymore. That’s corporate breakup notorisation for you.
Considering the extent of the drama, do you blame me for staying away from office link-ups? Plus, I can’t tolerate any guy droning on about the same things at work and after hours. Instead, I have a work-wife—zero complications, just pure platonic fun. Completely HR-compliant.
This article is part of a series of columns on modern dating in India—the good, the bad and the cuddly.
Source-https://theprint.in/opinion/the-dating-story/modern-office-romances-sidestepping-posh-hr/2475740/