在Netflix的真人秀节目《Selling Sunset》中，办公室浪漫场景普遍：约四分之一美国人（25%）承认曾有办公室恋情，经理与下属的关系特别容易引发争议并常被禁止。南加州大学的Emily Nix及其合著者利用芬兰的一套丰富行政资料（工资、职位和同居状况）研究这类关系的影响，并在假设关系始于同居前两年（调查显示约70%在此时间内同居）的前提下追踪收入轨迹变化。

研究的量化结果显示，女性下属与男性上司的关系平均带来约6%的收入上升，差距在同居前两年形成；但与上司分手且经常因此离职的女性，于一年内收入平均下降约18%，并在接下来四年持续下滑。男性下属与女性上司的薪酬增幅约为女性的两倍（大约12%），而分手后女性更有可能退出劳动力市场，导致更剧烈的收入下跌。

对雇主而言，这类关系也带来风险：出现经理—下属关系的公司，其员工留任率相较无此情况的公司下降约6个百分点；YouGov与The Economist民调显示71%的美国受访者认为与经理有暧昧或性关系的员工会获得较有利待遇。较小的公司和下属获得较大薪酬增幅的情况下，留任率下跌更明显；在更具等级性的文化中，这些负面效应可能更严重，因此衡量短期好处与长期风险至关重要。

In Selling Sunset, office romances are common: about a quarter of Americans (25%) report having had one, and manager–subordinate ties are particularly controversial and often banned. Emily Nix and co-authors used rich Finnish administrative data (wages, positions, cohabitation) to study consequences, assuming relationships began two years before cohabitation (survey evidence: ~70% do so within that timeframe) and tracing income trajectories.

Quantitatively, a female subordinate dating a male manager experienced an average 6% income increase relative to controls, with the gap forming over the two years before moving in; women who broke up and frequently left their jobs saw incomes fall about 18% within a year and continue declining over the next four years. Men with female bosses enjoyed roughly twice the pay bump (about 12%), and women who split were far more likely to exit the workforce, amplifying their losses.

For employers, risks include a roughly 6 percentage-point subsequent drop in retention at firms with manager–subordinate relationships versus those without, and 71% of Americans polled believe such workers receive more favourable treatment. Smaller firms and cases with larger subordinate pay bumps suffered larger retention hits; in more hierarchical cultures the harms could be worse, so individuals should weigh short-term gains against long-term career and employer costs.