Time vs. Tipple

Time vs. Tipple: American employees have reclaimed 169 hours during the pandemic by not having after-work drinks, reveals poll.

• Over 1 in 10 employees have missed afterwork drinking over the past year.
• Almost half say their health has improved since they stopped going out for afterwork drinks.
• Only 1 in 3 think afterwork drinks are a good way to bond and strengthen a team of colleagues.
• Illustrative infographic included depicting poll results across the US.

Having a couple drinks with colleagues after a long day at the office used to be an ritual for many Americans prior to the pandemic. However, now that things have slowed down significantly compared to the not-so-distant past, and people are working from home, the concept of after-work drinks seems like a distant memory. Despite not being able to enjoy cocktails with co-workers over the last year or so, are employees finding themselves with more free time?

AlcoholRehab.com, a provider of alcohol addiction treatment resources, conducted a survey of 3,000 employees aged 21 and over across the country to find out how much time they’ve regained by not attending after-work drinks since the start of the pandemic. It was found that the typical employee has reclaimed 169 hours on average over the last year by not having drinks after work with colleagues. Broken down by gender, men have saved more time (170 hours) compared to women, who reclaimed 147 hours.

time-vs-tipple

Despite freeing up more time for activities, hobbies or spending time with family, more than 1 in 10 (14%) employees admit they’ve missed after-work drinks with their colleagues.

Forty-two percent of employees said that their health has improved since they stopped going out for after-work drinks. Considering that more than 1 in 10 employees admit they would drink shots during after-work drinks with colleagues prior to the pandemic, a healthier present state is not too surprising – a prolonged excessive consumption of alcohol can weaken the immune system making the body more susceptible to disease.

Interestingly, only 1 in 3 (38%) employees believe after-work drinks are a good way to bond and strengthen a team of colleagues. On the other hand, 15% of employees have no qualms about getting drunk in front of their boss, and 11% of bosses would do the same around their employees. Given that a further 14% of respondents admitted that, on at least one occasion, they’ve acted inappropriately while drinking with co-workers after work, the lines between professional and personal boundaries can become somewhat blurred. This may contribute to the overwhelming number of employees who disagree that after-work drinks are a good way to bond a work team.