The same survey found workers were consuming less alcohol at employer-sponsored events during the first year of the pandemic. Respondents weren’t particularly attached to workplace boozing, either, with just 34% saying they preferred work events that involved alcohol.

Some employers turn away from office drinking

On the other side of the Atlantic, some US companies have moved away from promoting office drinking in recent years.

Salesforce, for example, reiterated a no-alcohol policy back in 2017 even as some of its competitors continued to stock office refrigerators full of kegs. Other companies stopped serving alcohol at holiday events around this time in response to rising reports of sexual assault in the office.

Against this backdrop, drinkers in both the UK and US have started to rethink their relationship with alcohol. 18% of UK adults and 19% of US adults reported they would try to abstain from drinking this month as part of dry January.

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