In fact, close to half of the US workforce has confessed to engaging in some form of amorous encounter with a co-worker at some point in their adult lives, according to a survey of 2,017 American conducted by sex toy brand Lovehoney.

The results suggest that connections forged in work environments are rather more susceptible to intimate stirrings than the norms of professionalism would have you think. …

Overall, 907 out of the 2017 respondents – about 45 per cent – confessed to having what they’d consider ‘some sort of relationship’ that pushed the bounds of simple platonic professionalism with a co-worker.’

Nearly 20 per cent have had a ‘sexual relationship’ with a coworker while they were single; of single people who become caught up in more serious ‘romantic’ involvement, that figure drops slightly to just under 18 per cent.

[I’m not sure that I find these numbers ‘shocking.’ I’ve worked in offices before and saw an amount of this behavior, although perhaps not quite at this level. I wonder what impact sexual-harassment policies and #MeToo disincentives have impacted the situation. Best guess? Minimally. — Ed]