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Why you shouldn’t dismiss the power of a ‘work spouse’

Tim Duggan Work columnist September 11, 2025 — 5.59pm

There’s always one in every workplace: the person you gravitate towards and forge a close bond with. It might be a loose friendship that evolves until one day you realise that the intimate, platonic relationship you have is an important aspect of why you come to work every day.

Depending on their gender, the colloquial term for this is a “work wife” or “work husband”, a clumsy attempt to summarise a supportive relationship that crudely resembles a marriage. The reason for the spousal tag is that it often includes emotional support, honesty and loyalty.

But before we get any further, we do need to address the gendered elephant in the

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