Bosses are urged to interchange night drinks with daytime socials

The traditional post-work pint may be a thing of the past as bosses are being urged to replace evening drinks with daytime socials to appease the rise in sober Generation-Z staff.

A recent report found that after-work drinks are dying out, as more people work from home and younger staff prefer not to drink – with 21 per cent of under-25s saying they avoided booze completely last year, up from 14 per cent in 2017.

This has led the Work Foundation, a think tank at Lancaster University, to draw up a series of recommendations with the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking to create an ‘inclusive and healthy workplace cultures’ for all staff.

It suggested daytime events, such as group breakfasts or away days, were a more inclusive and reflective of ‘changing social norms’.

These alternative work social activities have become increasingly popular within the Gen-Z workforce, as a growing number of TikTok posts have showcased these events taking place in companies across the UK.

Videos of office ‘breakfast clubs’ show employees being offered a range of croissants, juices and fruits to indulge in whilst having the opportunity to ‘network’ with their colleagues during the working day. 

The Work Foundation report said: ‘Whilst ‘after-work drinks’ have long been a staple of socialising and workplace culture, in recent years there has been a shift in attitudes towards the appropriateness of centring workplace social activities outside of working hours or around the consumption of alcohol.
‘This can include a need for virtual celebrations when teams are spread out remotely, or an emphasis on socialising within work hours to ensure that those with long commutes or caring responsibilities outside of work hours do not miss out.’

 

Experts have also recommended that companies should have an alcohol policy in place telling staff to avoid describing socials as ‘drinks’ and instead label events as ‘networking’ or ‘gatherings’. 

They have also urged employers to put policies in place ‘that do not centre on alcohol’ and cut down on harmful workplace drinking.

The report said: ‘Run activities that do not centre on alcohol, and host morning, lunch, or afternoon gatherings to include those with caring responsibilities and/or disabilities who may struggle to attend evening events.’

Companies have been told to always provide non-alcoholic drink options at social events and to run training for all staff on the ‘health risks’ associated with drinking alcohol. 

A trend for working later in life means baby boomers born in the 1950s now work alongside those born in the 2000s and the Work Foundation report examined the various challenges posed by multigenerational workforces.

The report, involved a survey of 1,167 business leaders from across Britain, said Gen-Z expect a more ‘inclusive and positive work culture’ that prioritises health and wellbeing.

It found that only one in five employers have policies on responsible alcohol consumption in the workplace, and most do not have guidance on inclusive social events.

Julian Braithwaite, CEO and president of the International Alliance of Responsible Drinking, told The Times: ‘Employers need to encourage a different type of socialising than the traditional default of just going to the pub after work. There shouldn’t be an implicit assumption that a work event means going for drinks.

‘Older managers need to understand that younger generations, Generation Z, may have a different attitude to what it means to socialise.’

Braithwaite also believed daytime events help ensure older staff or parents with caring responsibilities can participate.

Ben Harrison, director of the Work Foundation, said: ‘Our study shows that employers recognise the benefits of this increasingly multigenerational workforce, but many are not putting in place age-friendly policies and support mechanisms to support an inclusive and productive workplace culture.

‘In particular, relatively few have put policies in place on issues like menopause support or guidance on alcohol and socialising.

‘Organisations are starting to think much more thoughtfully about how they create that social space in order to make sure that they’re not essentially reinforcing inequalities in the workplace.’

Experts have begun describing Gen Z as ‘the most clean-living generation in recent times’ and ‘generation sensible’.

There are now 4.4 million #sober posts on Instagram and hundreds of thousands more which are linked, such as #soberlifestyle and #sobermovement.

It’s the same on video-sharing site TikTok, where thousands of posts tagged #soberTok feature young men and women sharing tips for avoiding alcohol at festivals, business lunches and parties, as well as recipes for the perfect alcohol-free tipple.

It is not just the workplace that has been affected by this sober generation. One of the UK’s leading stag party providers, StagWeb, has revealed that they believe stag dos could be completely booze-free by 2040.

StagWeb’s Creative Director, Jon Stainer, explained: ‘There’s definitely been a shift from boozy weekends towards experience-based celebrations in the last decade.

‘We’ve seen a drop in people enquiring for things like nightclub entry and bar crawls, and a rise in enquiries for events like go karting and adventure activities.

‘From white water rafting to mountain biking to even things like zombie survival training, we’ve had to diversify our offerings to keep up with the changes in stags’ preferences’.

He added: ‘The percentage of non-drinkers is rising exponentially, especially amongst Gen Z, and it wouldn’t be too much of a shock if we see a move away from boozy weekends completely.

‘By our calculations, if it maintains its current trajectory, stag parties could be completely sober as early as 2040’.