Bosses are being urged to replace the traditional post-work pint with daytime socialising to be more inclusive and appeal to Gen-Z staff who don’t drink.
However, it appears that the reluctance to enjoy a boozy night out with colleagues may be less about avoiding alcohol and more to do with how the younger generation consider socialising a form of unpaid extra work.
Workers from across the UK have taken to TikTok to express their disdain for mingling with colleagues when they’re off the clock, even suggesting that they should be paid overtime for it.
Responding to careers influencer Brooklyn Norton, who asked whether people still like work drinks, one wrote: ‘Unless I’m getting paid to be there I absolutely will not be joining you.’
Another added: ‘I get paid to talk to colleagues 9-5, not after’, while a fellow critic agreed, saying: ‘Unless company socialising is on company time, I am not participating. They are colleagues, not friends.
Brooklyn Norton, who vlogs about careers, received a flurry of responses after asking why people don’t want to go to the pub after work
Stephen Adeoye, Founder & CEO of Beyond Education, included saying no to work drinks in his list of three things he will ‘not be doing in corporate UK’
‘I already spend more time with them than my actual friends and family. Hard pass for me.’
It seems that a defining principle for some Gen Z workers is not being obliged to do anything work-related – even a trip to a pub or bar – if it’s outside of working hours.
It certainly explains why daytime events, such as group breakfasts or away days have become popular among younger workers with a growing number of TikTok posts showcasing 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.
Another TikTok user also drew a hard line between work and friendship, saying: ‘My work day has finished. I’m a pro so can get the job done without being your friend. If you can’t, then I wouldn’t employ such a needy adult.’
A similar view was shared by Tara Berwin, whose TikTok video suggested she ‘would rather go fly’ than attend work drinks.
She was an actor in her childhood, appearing in films such as Gosford Park, but now has a corporate job in London.
London-based Tara Berwin who was a child actor appearing in films including Gosford Park, now works in a corporate job
One commenter on the Make It Common channel spoke about the pressure she felt to embrace pub culture in order to succeed in the corporate world
Certainly some of the reluctance has to do with avoiding alcohol.
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 change in behaviour has led one think tank to suggest that bosses should ditch the idea of evening drinks completely – replacing them with more activities that appeal to workers who are less booze-focused, like group breakfasts or away days.
However, while some workers might be happy to share chats over croissants with their colleagues rather than drinking alcohol to socialise with their peers, for many, it’s a ‘hard no’ on interacting with their colleagues full stop.
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For some, it’s about not wanting to be around people who they say simply aren’t their friends, while others they confess that having to spend any more time than necessary with colleagues is ‘draining’ and ‘torture’.
One scathing commenter wrote: ‘A lot of older colleagues are just painful to be around no offence we just have nothing in common and it feels so forced.’
For Sevda, it’s a simple case that: ‘No one likes their colleagues anymore. So that’s why no one wants drinks.’
Commenters took to TikTok to revel the real reason why they don’t want to socialise with their colleagues after work
A fellow commenter was more scathing, saying: ‘After work drinks is pure torture – I’d rather do literally *anything* else, while Annie answered: ‘Nah. Not anymore (I’m 32) I wanna get away from those people.’
SanjySeth said: ‘Never socialise with work colleagues. Couldn’t bear to keep the draining small talk going on after I don’t have to be with them…’
Another pulled no punches, saying: ‘Hell no absolutely not, I hate those fake corporate ding bats, I detest them.’
For some workers, it’s not that they hate their colleagues, but more that they differentiate between workmates and real friends. In one worker’s view: ‘Colleagues are not friends. Do not make that mistake.’
‘I love after work drinks. Just with my actual friends rather than work people’, and Joanna added: ‘nope. Never. Work is work and friends are friends the two are not the same. hard boundaries for me.’
Some TikTok users are keen to point out that the idea that attending work drinks might help you climb the corporate ladder quicker is a myth – and you won’t actually gain much by going if you don’t want to.
MakeItCommon shared a video in which she said: ‘When I was in the corporate space, it was just things like, “I don’t want to go to after work drinks”, but that’s just the culture so you just do it. It was like, “Oh, do you want to go to the pub?”. No, I don’t but I know that’s gonna help me.’
Stephen Adeoye, Founder & CEO of Beyond Education, included saying no to work drinks in his list of three things he will ‘not be doing in corporate UK’.
‘I will not be peer pressured to go into work drinks if I don’t feel like going to work drinks,’ he said. ‘I think a lot of people think that you actually have to go to work drinks to progress, when that’s actually not the case.
‘If you don’t feel like going then don’t go. You do not have to go to work drinks to progress in the corporate world, that’s just a myth.’
But while the consensus seems to be that work drinks have had their day, there are a few people who are still itching for a post-work pint, or a cocktail with colleagues.
One wrote: ‘Loool seems like you lot work with rubbish people. I love the people I work with and always up for drinks with the work lot. It’s nice to socialise with them outside of work settings. I love it!’
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