February 14th is known for being a celebration of romantic love, but here at Comparably, it’s a day to examine workplace associations of all stripes.
Using tens of thousands of anonymous employee reviews, Comparably compiled a data-driven look at dating, friendship and socialization in the workplace. Respondents come from all industries, but predominantly the tech sector.
Respondents were asked:
- What’s the main reason you stay at your current company?
- To whom do you feel most loyal at work?
- Have you ever dated a co-worker?
- How often do you socialize with team members outside of work?
- Do you have a close friend at work?
- Do you have a mentor at work?
The results and methodology are below.
‘Comfort and familiarity’ is the No. 1 reason people stay at their company
- 36% of people say comfort and familiarity are the reason they stay at their current company. The next most popular answer was compensation and benefits (25%) followed by coworkers (15%), company mission (12%) and career advancement (12%).
- Women value “comfort and familiarity” and “coworkers” slightly more than men. Women and men were mostly similar in their responses with some slight differences: 38% of women chose comfort and familiarity vs. 35% of men; 17% of women chose co-workers vs. 14% of men. A greater percentage of men than women chose compensation and benefits (26% vs. 23%).
- No major difference between respondents of various ethnic groups. African Americans, Asians/Pacific Islanders, Caucasians, Hispanic /Latinos, and those who identified as “other” shared similar responses.
- “Comfort and familiarity” becomes more important with age while career advancement opportunities becomes less important. Workers in their older years valued comfort and familiarity more than workers in their younger years. For example, 30% of workers aged 18 to 25 chose comfort and familiarity vs. 41% of workers aged 51 to 55. Interest in career advancement opportunities dwindled from 18% to 5% amongst the same groups.
18 to 25
51 to 55
- Top executives were the only ones to choose “company mission” over “comfort & familiarity. Forty-one percent of workers in executive roles chose company mission, the highest of any group.
People feel most loyal to their coworkers – except those in admin & finance
- Coworkers before anyone else. 36% of respondents said they feel most loyal to their coworkers; 23% said they feel most loyal to their boss or manager; 14% said they feel most loyal to their direct reports; another 14% said they feel most loyal to a company’s mission or vision; and 13% said they feel most loyal to no one.
- Women and men are nearly identical in their responses. There were no meaningful differences in how men and women ranked the parties they are most loyal to.
- No major differences by ethnicity. African Americans, Asians/Pacific Islanders, Caucasians, Hispanic/ Latinos, and those who identified as “other” all chose “coworkers” as the party to whom they are most loyal.
- People of all ages ranked coworkers No. 1. There were no significant differences between how coworkers in every age group ranked their loyalty. For example:
18 to 25
51 to 55
- People in administrative roles and finance were the only ones who felt more loyal to their boss or manager than their coworkers. Thirty percent of workers in administrative roles and 33% of workers in finance jobs say they feel most loyal to their boss/manager. They were the only workers to chose boss or manager over coworkers.
Admin
Finance
More than 1 in 3 people say they have dated a coworker
- A common occurrence. Thirty-four percent of men and 35% of women say they have dated a coworker.
- The rate was highest among African American respondents and lowest among Asian/Pacific Islander respondents. 38% of African Americans say they have dated a coworker; 26% of Asian/Pacific Islanders say they have dated a coworker.
- You’re most likely to have dated a coworker by your mid-30s. Workers 36 to 40 had the highest rates of saying they have dated a coworker. Workers in the early part of their career (30 and younger) had the lowest rates.
- People in operations and communications most likely to have dated coworkers; engineers least likely. Thirty-nine percent of people in operations and communications say they have dated a coworker, the highest of any other group. People in engineering had the lowest rates of having dated a coworker (31%).
48% of people say they hang out with coworkers “once a quarter” or “never”
- People don’t socialize with their coworkers as often as you might assume. Twenty-six percent of people say they “never” socialize with their coworkers; 22% say they socialize once a quarter; 25% say they socialize once a month; 17% say they socialize once a week; and 10% say they socialize multiple times a week.
- Women slightly more likely to say they “never” hang out with their coworkers. Twenty-eight percent of women say they never hang out with their coworkers vs. 25% of men.
- Hispanic/Latino respondents socialize with coworkers the most. Thirty-one percent of people of Hispanic or Latino descent say they socialize with coworkers “once a week” or “multiple times a week” compared with 27% of people on average.
Hispanic/Latino
- Sales is the most social; finance is the least. Thirty-three percent of people in sales roles say they socialize “once a week” or “multiple times a week.” That compares to 24% of people in finance.
Sales
Finance
- The youngest workers are the most social. The rate of socialization declines with age. A sampling here:
18 to 25
51 to 55
Women slightly more likely to have a close friend at work
- Men vs. women. 60% of women say they are likely to have a close friend at work compared to 56% of men.
- Asian/Pacific Islanders most likely to say they have a close friend at work. Fifty-nine percent of Asian or Pacific Islanders say they have a close friend at work.
- Age matters. Sixty percent of workers 18 to 30 say they have a close friend at work. The rate declines from there hitting a low of 50% among workers 51 to 55.
- Executives the most friendly, legal the least? People in senior leadership were most likely to say they have a close friend at work (66%) followed next by those in HR, business development and communications. People in legal had the lowest rates of saying they have a close friend at work (52%).
Nearly 40% of people say they have a mentor at work
- Men vs. women. Thirty-nine percent of women and 37% of men say they have a mentor at work.
- The rates were close among members of all ethnic groups.
- From having a mentor to becoming a mentor. Predictably, workers in the later half of their careers were less likely to say they have a mentor at work while workers in the early part of their careers were more likely to say they have a mentor at work.
- People in legal most likely to have a mentor; people in admin and IT least likely. Forty-five percent of workers in legal say they have a mentor at work vs. 34% of workers in admin or IT.
Methodology
- Questions were in Yes/No and multiple-choice format.
- Results are based on 157,186 responses from employees predominantly across the technology sector:
- Employees hail predominantly from small, mid-size, and large tech companies (VC-funded, privately-held, and public) to household brands like Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Uber, etc.
- Data was collected between March 30, 2016 and Feb. 8, 2018.
About Comparably
Comparably is one of the fastest growing compensation, culture, and career monitoring sites in the U.S. With the most comprehensive and uniquely structured data — segmented by gender, ethnicity, age, location, tenure, company size, equity, title/department, and education — the platform gives employees a more accurate picture of their worth and allows them to anonymously rate their workplace experiences and match with their dream jobs. Since its launch in 2016, Comparably has accumulated more than 3 million ratings from employees across 30,000 U.S. businesses and over 5,000 companies who use its employer branding and jobs tools. For more information on Comparably, go to www.comparably.com. For highly-cited workplace culture and compensation studies, including Comparably’s annual Best Places to Work and Best CEOs lists, log onto www.comparably.com/blog.
