Staci & Hutch

How People Feel About Partners’ Work “Spouses”

Working from home has its advantages, but some perks make office life so much better, and for a lot of folks, having a “work spouse” is one of them. According to new research, 73% of workers have a “work wife” or “work husband” – described as a “special, platonic friendship with a work colleague characterized by a close emotional bond.” And their real life partners may not even know about this person.

The survey of more than 15-hundred workers also reveals:

Nearly half of those with a work spouse admit they’re more likely to confide in them than in their actual husband or wife.
Some people are really attached to this relationship, with three in 10 workers saying they’d quit their job if their work spouse left.
It’s probably not surprising that this can cause issues at home. One in five women and one in eight men confess that a close relationship with a coworker has caused their real partner to raise an eyebrow.
And that may be why 13% of women and 19% of men don’t mention that close bond they share with their work spouse to their real partner at all.
But there are some real benefits to having a friendship like this on the job, including having personal support at work and providing a more enjoyable work environment.