Is the “Dating Recession” Making Us Bad at Our Jobs?

The Trend: Young adults are in what researchers are calling a “dating recession.” According to the Institute for Family Studies’ 2025 National Dating Landscape Survey, three-quarters of young women and nearly two-thirds of young men hadn’t really dated the previous year. Only about one third expressed confidence in their dating skills. The reasons range from financial barriers to bad past experiences to lack of confidence.

What People Are Saying: Psychologists argue the fallout extends beyond love lives. Tessa West, a psychology professor at NYU, notes that skills like collaborative problem-solving, conflict management, and compromise are often first developed through romantic relationships — and are extremely useful in the workplace. “When you miss these ‘teachable moments’ when you’re young, you enter the workforce without a baseline level of skills that you need to navigate tough situations at work,” she told The Independent.

What to Know: Nobody needs a relationship to be good at their job. But the social muscles dating builds — vulnerability, compromise, reading a room — are the same ones teams need. The fix is finding more ways to build those skills, even outside of dating — navigating roommate conflicts, family dynamics, or close friendships can build these skills too.