Office happy hours, client dinners and other after-hours work gatherings lose their luster as more people feel the pull of home
Patience for after-hours work socializing is wearing thin.
After an initial burst of postpandemic happy hours, rubber chicken dinners and mandatory office merriment, many employees are adopting a stricter 5:01-and-I’m-done attitude to their work schedules. More U.S. workers say they’re trying to draw thicker lines between work and the rest of life, and that often means clocking out and eschewing invites to socialize with co-workers. Corporate event planners say they’re already facing pushback for fall activities and any work-related functions that take place on weekends.
Eh I don’t mind a schmooze.
More than once a month? No. Weekends? No. Mandatory? Hell no, but I think that a bit of camaraderie goes a long, long way when dealing with iffy clients or just generally.
I don’t think work is “family” but it should definitely be a team. That’s just good for everyone. Raising a pint every so often definitely helps that along.
Our office I’m actually going to give them props for this - they do these events during work hours. Summer bbq? Close office 4 hrs early and it’s free drinks and food for everyone. Annual golf event? Tuesday at noon, you can work or you can golf, your call.
Granted I’m too busy to partake for the most part but I’m not a clock puncher, and if I was, I’d appreciate the effort.
This is the way.
I agree, though it depends on the activity. Going for drinks is shitty on coworkers who don’t drink. Going for BBQ is shitty on coworkers who are vegan/vegetarian. You can’t please everyone, but I think it’s very possible to at least not exclude anyone.
I worked at a place where everyone came in a bit early on Fridays for free bagels. It was nice to shoot the shit, and most people left a bit early in the afternoon to offset the earlier arrival. Maybe we lost a little productivity. However, everyone knew everyone in that office.
I appreciate you. I’m a teetotaling vegetarian. I usually manage to figure something out (and I try not to impose or be a killjoy), but it’s easier when colleagues are looking out for you.
You’d be welcome at my barbecue. I’ve got one grill that is just for my vegan friends and has never had an animal product on it along with a set of separate utensils (although they get washed with the others).
But I do that for friends, coworkers aren’t allowed to know where I live.
This is why I’m a fan of pot luck lunches.
Done right with a little planning so you don’t wind up with 5 bowls of Midwest Nasty Salad (that’s… the bland, disgusting potatoe salad white people up here think is “good”…. Where the sole flavor comes from that half-jar of dill relish juice….) one dessert and no protein…. Everybody gets to bring something that works for them. Bring enough to share. Maybe start a competition with differing teams “hosting” the thing. (Managment starts to get it off to a good start.)
We used to have those at my old workplace. It wasn’t usually done well. Usually what ended up happening is that only half the people brought stuff and it wouldn’t be enough to feed everyone, so someone would order a bunch of pizza to make up the difference. The worst was when nobody signed up to bring plates…
Having happy hours can be a blast if you get along well with your coworkers, and I do miss the holiday parties from previous companies.
But I’ll gladly take being at home over anything else