Relationships

The surprising number of office Christmas party hook-ups that work out

Proving the love of your life might literally be in the next pod.

The office Christmas party has a well-earned reputation for many things: drunk and disorderly behaviour, really bad air guitar and, of course, the office party hook-up.

But what’s surprising is that more than half of office party hook-ups result in successful long-term relationships.

(Perhaps the other half are the ones that shouldn’t have happened because one or both were already taken – but this story is not about infidelity.)

According to a survey by Instantprint, in which 2000 office workers participated, 54 per cent have had a long-term relationship (longer than a year) that stemmed from a Christmas party love confession and 31 per cent of them are still together.

The survey concluded that the surprisingly high success rate is because often the ingredients for a good relationship are all there:

The two of you already know one another, work in the same industry and, approaching the new year, you’re re-evaluating what you want as the harsh realities of single life set in.

Makes sense to us.

With our own Christmas party coming up on Friday and hearing the single girls talk about how hard it is to meet and KEEP anyone nice because everyone’s on Tinder with their finger ever poised to swipe, we’ll be watching with renewed interest the flirtations we’ve seen bubbling away through the year.

In the meantime, here are some other surprising and, in some cases, less surprising results from the survey:

Which department is the wildest? And other interesting findings…

Congratulations to the HR team! The HR department was revealed as the wildest of office departments, with 40 per cent of HR employees considering handing in their notice after their Christmas party because of the way they acted or something they said.

The marketing and sales department causes the most trouble.

And the senior department is the most likely to behave differently and reveal their true colours.

And lastly, you are not alone… 72 per cent of office workers admit to being ‘drunk’ at their work Christmas party, and 16 per cent said they were ’embarrassingly’ drunk. Survey respondents admitted to asking their CEO for a better job, stripping, arguing with the paid entertainment, falling through a marquee during the managing director’s toast and causing a table to collapse after standing on it to sing.

Merry Christmas everybody!

Top tips from office workers on surviving your Christmas party

  1. Have a glass of water in between alcoholic drinks

  2. Don’t tell colleagues what you really think of them

  3. Make sure you eat dinner beforehand

  4. Book the next day off work

  5. Avoid deep conversations with your boss

  6. Avoid the office creep

  7. Dress appropriately

  8. Shots after 11pm are not a good idea

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