Some 64% of UK workers drink alcohol for work-related reasons, according to a survey.
It’s not just colleagues having a few pints at the end of the business day.
Job stress, pressure and anxiety led employees to drink more over the past year, according to Alcohol Change UK.
The research also found one in five workers drinks to deal with deadlines, while nearly 10% feel pressured to drink by their boss or colleagues.
The charity now wants employers to move away from alcohol-based team building and social events so everyone can feel included.
Jane Gardiner from Alcohol Change UK told Sky News: “We’re not saying don’t go to the pub, don’t have after-work drinks, but try to be more inclusive and create sort of healthier, more inclusive workplaces, recognising that not everyone does drink for a variety of different reasons.”
Patrick Fox is a former city banker who gave up alcohol in 2018 after years of drunken nights out. He told Sky News his colleagues would often pressure him to drink, and he ended up prioritising going out over his romantic relationship.
“I’d be going out drinking on a Thursday and Friday after work. That would probably continue into the weekend. So come Sunday afternoon I’d be feeling pretty terrible and dreading going to work on a Monday,” he said.
He added: “There’s so many different businesses out there where alcohol is the focal point a lot of the time at team building exercises, so there is a pressure to be a part of that.”
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Employee absence due to work-related drinking is estimated to cost England’s economy £4bn per year.
However, the number of adults drinking alcohol has decreased in recent years.
According to the latest data, 56% of adults reported having an alcoholic drink in 2022, down from 61% in 2012.
Generation Z has markedly turned away from booze, abstinence periods like Dry January have become more mainstream, and there has been a proliferation of no or low alcohol alternatives.
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Dhati Holohan, sales director at Asahi UK, told Sky News: “What we are seeing is over 40% of adults in the UK are looking to moderate their alcohol consumption.”
One way drinkers are doing that is by switching in soft drinks.
Ms Holohan added: “We are calling that zebra striping. So alternating alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic drinks. One in three adults in the UK are actually using that as a way to pace their consumption.”
