The average office worker spends 27 minutes and 27 seconds a day gossiping with colleagues, according to research by Mars Drinks Office Connections.
This length of time rises for HR professionals who spend on with the average 29 minutes and 26 seconds talking to colleagues about non-work related subjects.
The survey, carried out among 2000 office workers, found that popular topics of conversation include the British weather, celebrity gossip, food, relationships, money and health issues. Half of the respondents prefer face to face chats in the office, a quarter like to talk via email and one in eight use the phone as their preferred means of communication.
The study also found that HR professionals are more likely to share a secret with a colleague. An average of 33.6% of UK workers have shared a secret to a colleague, while 37.61% of HR professionals have confided in a workmate.
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