The Work Husband vs The Real Husband

By Sanchia Saunders

With romance very much being in the London air at the moment, due to it being themonth of love, maybe it’s not a boyfriend that you need to lift your spirits. 

As with committed relationships no longer being that easy to come by these days, us singles have started getting creative and broadening our horizons. 

This is because with current dating sites no longer serving their purpose, due to enthusiasm around sites like Tinder and Bumble dwindling - with Tinder seeing a 23% drop and Bumble seeing a 26% drop in users, it makes you question what’s next.

However what if I told you that you can find it at your least favourite place… that place being work!!

Yes you heard it right, work is where your romantic dreams can come true. As with LinkedIn repositioning themselves from a job site to a dating site, maybe love can be found in the office, in the form of a work husband or work wife. 

So what is a work husband/work wife? 

According to Very Well Mind, a work spouse is having a platonic friendship with a coworker with whom you have a strong and trusting bond. These relationships generally have a sense of emotional safety, there is mutual respect, as well as a trust that allows for disclosure. 

Which in lament terms means a close friend at work, usually of the opposite sex, which you have developed a close bond with. 

However this topic is often a controversial one with lines often being crossed between work spouses, due to the blurred lines surrounding how far and how real these relationships can go. 

According to reports 13% of workers – rising to 19% of men – don’t mention the close bond with their work spouse at home at all, due to the closeness of these relationships causing spouses to raise their eyebrows. 

Why have work spouses become so popular? 

So you may be wondering why there has been such a rise in these platonic work relationships. As with the vast majority of British workers, 73% to be precise, having one there must be a method behind the madness. 

Well if you compare the world today to how it was 50 years ago there are some stark differences. 

The main one being that we as people are more career driven, money hungry and always trying to climb the corporate ladder. 

With statistics stating that, “one third of your life is spent at work”, then there’s no surprise that we form such close bonds with our colleagues. 

However with singles often feeling lonely, confiding in a ‘friend’ at work, who is of the opposite sex can be quite thrilling, enticing and something to look forward to, instead of the boring Monday to Friday 9-5. 

Also it lunates the possibility of decision fatigue as your work spouse is just a friend right ? 

But the real question is do you have a work spouse and if you do what’s your opinion on this controversial topic ?