The move that has killed off Friday-night drinks
It might sound strange, but once upon a time people across the city would descend upon a central location at the same time, toiling away from Monday to Friday in a common space together.
Then, on the final afternoon of the last workday, a small ritual would occur in many workplaces.
In some of them, platters laden with 'chips and dips' would materialise on a large table near the kitchen. In others, a drinks cart would be wheeled between cubicles, offering cold drinks to weary workers. And, more often than not, a colleague would appear at your desk to invite you to the pub to digest the week's events and swap upcoming plans for the weekend.
These historic vignettes are not from decades in the past, you only need to rewind your memory back to 2019 to remember them. For countless generations, workers celebrated the end of the week by heading to the local watering hole. Today, however, thanks in part to changing ways of working, WFH is killing Friday night drinks.
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According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, about 40 per cent of Australian employees now spend some of their week under hybrid arrangements, and it's caused a drastic change to how we socialise.
The most common days to be in the office? Tuesday to Thursday. And the most likely days to work from home? Mondays and Fridays.
But it's not all the fault of WFH, as there's a perfect storm of trends that has led us to this moment. The first is a long-term shift of younger Australians away from alcohol.
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