It's hard for Americans to consider the merits of workplace romance because it's been hammered into them for 20-30 years now that it's always wrong all the time. Having worked professionally on 3 continents, the American approach would be picked apart by many foreigners as easily as you picked apart my proposal.
Truth be told, in the US we're at a local maxima once you consider that alternative solutions may do a better job of increasing lifetime happiness (i.e. there is a non-trivial chance that your ideal partner(s) is/are someone you work with). It's hard to recognize the situation here as a local maxima if you've never had the opportunity to work in a culture where you could date people with whom you work.