Love And A Good Cuppa Conquer All – Even In The Financial Crisis – But Dirty Tricks Still Abound

May 8, 2009 - PRLog -- A recent survey of small to mid sized offices around the UK has found that despite the redundancies, cutbacks and work-related stresses associated with the credit crunch, the tumultuous state of the economy isn’t affecting the majority of our love lives – but it may be causing some to consider drastic measures to ensure their job security.

Euroffice.co.uk – the UK’s leading online office supplier for small businesses – asked over 520 office workers how much the current financial climate is affecting their love lives and a resounding 76% answered “not at all.”  

Furthermore, if anything, flirting has become the order of the day at the office with 65% acknowledging that it goes on and 18% of those admitting they openly flirt around the office and “don’t have to hide it”.  And in Scotland the flirt rates hit a whopping 82%.

Flirting hot spots include the office nights out, with 1 in 3 saying they are the most popular place to flirt, closely followed by the kettle – 1 in 4 pointing out the popularity of mingling while brewing a cuppa.  And for wannabe flirters, tourism and leisure came out as the most flirtatious sectors.  

Worryingly, though, the Euroffice survey revealed that a shocking 15% of respondents would play dirty to save their job if it was on the line – 8% of respondents saying they would go so far as to sexually compromise their boss so he/she couldn’t sack them and a further 7% saying they would sabotage a co-worker’s work or spread bad rumours around the office about other employees to make themselves look better.  In both instances, men were just as likely as women to consider these drastic measures.  

Simon Drakeford, group CEO of Euroffice, said:
“Office banter is an important part of keeping team morale up, but people need to know their limits.  When it comes to workplace behaviour, everyone needs to be acutely aware of what is and what is not appropriate.  Respecting limits can not only spare individuals the personal embarrassment of flirting gone awry, but also reduce the risk of causing more serious office problems – or even a lawsuit.”

But when it comes to flexibility, women respondents to the survey thoroughly outshone men.  When asked “would you take a serious pay cut to save your job”, over half (53%) of the female respondents said they would.  By contrast, only 36% of male respondents said they would be prepared to do so.  Instead, male respondents would simply walk – 46% of men saying they “would be happy to leave and wouldn’t do anything” to keep their jobs, whereas only 36% of women said they would give up without a fight.  

Euroffice.co.uk’s survey was conducted online from April 1st-30th, 2009.

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About Euroffice.co.uk
With a staff of 34, Euroffice.co.uk now offers over 35,000 products and services to a customer base of over 300,000 small businesses through its web-based service. Products supplied range from office supplies, computer supplies, printers & faxes, to office furniture and kitchen/cleaning supplies.

Euroffice.co.uk has won multiple awards – most recently OPI’s 2008 Emerging Reseller of the Year – and has been listed in the Sunday Times Fast Tech Track 100 three times in the past four years.

Contacts

Brooke Paul      020 7153 8035
(GTH Media Relations)

Simon Drakeford      020 7091 4663
(Euroffice.co.uk)