Why W orkplace D rinking C ulture is F ading F ast By Megan Carnegie Drinking has long b een the centre of workplace culture. But younger employees are changing the role of alcohol in the office Prosecco to toast a project wrap - up, cocktails at the Christmas party, an ‘al desko’ beer to end the week, payday drinks. Alcohol has long been a s taple of workplace culture. In some industries, post - shift pints to unwind are par for the course; in others, drinking is woven into the fabric of the work itself, with client relationships built over boozy lunches and dinners. And yet, while the pandemic destabilised workplace social culture as we knew it, alcohol didn’t disappear. In many cases, especially early in the pandemic, pub happy hours simply moved to Zoom. In almost all spheres of life, regular alcohol consumption has been institutionalised, and even encouraged: it’s embedded in rites of passage, such as college and university; and carries through to the workplace as a bonding ritual, morale booster and stress reliever. Hosting meetings at bars and restaurants with drinks flowing is even part of some companies’ business strategy. In China, for instance, binge drinking is used as a kind of “ moral contract” , in which potential business part ners get drunk together to become friends, so they can trust each other not to harm the other person’s professional interests. In the UK, according to 2022 research from education charity Drinkaware, alcohol is more deeply ingrained in the private sector, with 86% of these employees more likely to say that there’s an expectation to drink at employer events than the public sector (15% versus 8%). They’re also 2.5 times more likely to have alcohol subsidised at work social events than in the public sector (23% vs 9%). Yet, as central as drinking is to workplace socialisation and strategy, there are signs that some companies are re - thinking the role of alcohol in professional settings. S ome experts say this move is long overdue. After all, many workers don’t drink for personal reasons, and interactions involving alcohol at work can be fraught. Add to this the increasingly large cohort of Gen Zers who are driving deeper conversations about sobriety and normalising socialising without alcohol , and it raises questions: does alcohol have a place at work any longer – and should it?