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Today is Valentine’s Day (or ‘Single People Appreciation Day’ if you prefer) for lovers around the world. In honour of this occasion, we’ve put together a few stats and asked ourselves... are we too attached to the office?

In Britain, we’ll be spending a massive £880 million on cards, flowers and chocolates for our loved ones today (Travelodge) – and for 23% of our pets, too (Urban Pup).

And yet there are more people living alone in the UK than ever before, with an estimated 2.92 million single households nationwide (Office for National Statistics).

Meanwhile, we find that 43% of workers are taking their jobs home with them and 69% are checking their work emails via phone – resulting in 27% unsurprisingly put-out loved ones (Regus UK).

Is Britain’s love of work getting the better of our relationships?

A full-time worker in the UK puts in an average 42.7 hours a week (Office for National Statistics) – far higher most other EU countries. And all those hours are taking their toll on the nation’s health, as those who work an average 11-hour day are twice as likely to become clinically depressed as their colleagues (University College London).

But perhaps all that time spent at work isn’t necessarily spent alone. If you’re a big fan of V-Day and all these statistics are killing your spirit, you might be perked up a little to hear that around 4 in 10 people have had a relationship with someone at work and a heart-warming 31% of those relationships ended in marriage (CareerBuilder).

So whether you’re alone or loved-up, celebrating or boycotting – whether you fancy your supervisor or you’ve left your loved one at home – don’t spend too much time at the office tonight. (And try not to check your emails over dinner.)

Elsewhere on the Blog...

• IT Workers Top the List for Office Romances

• Britain: Land of the Rich and Stressed?

• 89% Bad Bosses Demotivating Workforce

Published by JuliaF on Tuesday, 14 February 2012 at 8:28 AM