Is it permissible to work in a mixed-gender office environment?

Working in a mixed-gender workplace is generally held to be permissible when it is genuinely necessary (financial need, no realistic alternative) and Islamic etiquette is maintained — modest dress, lowering the gaze, avoiding unnecessary physical contact or private seclusion (khalwa) with a colleague of the opposite gender, and keeping interactions professional. Scholars across IslamQA and mainstream fatwa bodies are consistent that the underlying principle from the Quran (24:30-31, commanding both men and women to lower their gaze and maintain modesty) applies fully in office settings, not just socially.

Where scholars differ is on the degree of caution required and how strict "necessity" needs to be: some contemporary scholars are relatively accommodating of ordinary professional mixing (meetings, shared workspaces, project collaboration) as long as etiquette is observed, while more conservative voices — particularly some Salafi-oriented fatwas — advise avoiding mixed environments where possible and treat them as a concession only when there's no realistic alternative livelihood. In practice, most South Asian scholars take the middle position: mixed offices are a normal and largely unavoidable reality of modern employment, and the emphasis should be on personal conduct within that environment rather than avoiding such jobs altogether.

Source: Islam Question & Answer, "Ruling on working in a mixed workplace"; Quran 24:30-31 on lowering the gaze; general contemporary fatwa consensus on necessity (darurah) and professional conduct.