Alcohol + Australia’s workplace culture
Australia, we have a problem. A drinking problem.
According to the 2019 Annual Alcohol Poll, released by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) this year, only 31% of us can actually identify what a standard drink is. Not only that, whilst most consider that they’re responsible drinkers, a quarter of people polled drink to get drunk at least once a month.
More than one-third of survey respondents indicated they had been affected by alcohol-related violence, and one in four parent respondents said their child had been harmed or put at risk of harm because of someone else's drinking.
Drinking costs Australia $36 billion per year. According to FARE, nearly 6,000 lives are lost in Australia each year as a result of alcohol and more than 144,000 people are hospitalised.
One in 22 Australians die from alcohol related disease.
So knowing this, I have to ask, just what is going on in the workplace?
If you scroll through Seek looking for work, particularly in tech startup companies, which by their very ‘culture’ try to attract young people in the workforce, you’ll find a proliferation of ‘beer keg in the office!’ and ‘well stocked beer fridge’ offers within the job adverts. It’s not just the startups though. It’s all over the place, but all in places trying to attract a young bunch of employees.
Do your own search on Seek. I got 49 results.
Here’s one:
Many business leaders have the belief that a drink or two is a way of fostering team cohesion, of reducing stress, of keeping people back at work longer, of stimulating creativity and ‘culture’.
Drinking is meant to attract those with ‘high political skill’ (ie those who are sociable and good at influencing) and adverts that mention alcohol have actually been shown to put those ‘low political skill’ candidates off. So does that mean that those with ‘high political skill’ will apply to a beer fridge advert? Nope.
Current research shows that whilst those businesses might be looked on fondly by those with high political skill, it doesn’t mean that they are more likely to apply for a role. So whilst these companies are busy putting off a certain sector of people in the hope of attracting others, all that they’re doing is reducing the diversity of the workforce and therefore, the talent pool. How’s your creativity now?
By the very presence of alcohol, businesses also effectively discourage people who don’t drink for religious reasons. I imagine not many Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, and Sikh Australians, are going to be applying for the beer fridge ad on Seek. Maybe employers are cool with that, but I thought given we’re the most successful immigrant nation in the world, our talent has always been inclusion, not exclusion.
A younger adult I know who worked for a trendy restaurant which advertised itself as ‘contemporary Australian’ which attracted a lot of ‘cool’ and famous people told me about how the manager encouraged all the wait staff to take shots before service, on the floor, in front of customers, almost like a show piece. I don’t know about you but there’s never been an occasion where a shot of tequila has improved anything I did where there had to be an aspect of quality. And in front of customers? Surely the absolute height of unprofessionalism in Hospitality? But hey, drinking is cool, right?
Purely from a Health and Safety aspect, encouraging people to drink within a workplace that has hot ovens, flammable stuff and sharp things makes my jaw drop. Surely, you’re opening yourself to a host of legal action by fostering a drinking culture in the very environment where there is already risk? Is this insanity? It absolutely is.
Earlier this year I worked for a place in the city. It was tech, it was cool, had couches and ping pong. But the benchtop beer keg arrived and within four days, it was empty.
By Friday, at 3pm, when we were still trying to close contracts, the beer and wine was being poured. It was normal, part of the ‘culture’.
A colleague said ‘I don’t know about you, but if I’m having a beer at work, I’m not working. And if I have two beers at work, I’m definitely not working.’
Another colleague told me that beers would be passed around at his tech company business if anyone had to work late and this could be the three out of five days of the week, starting at five and going through to seven-ish or later. They’d all go home after three or four beers each, at least three times a week. To refuse a drink was seen as not being ‘part of the team’ and so he felt pressured to accept.
This is not a new phenomenon. Drinking at work especially in advertising during the 80’s was normal but by the 90’s we had it all pretty under wraps and work was work. ‘Work hard, play hard’ was the motto except now, the ‘play hard’ bit has ended up in the ‘Work hard’ space.
Alcohol was never part of a job description in the past but now we have a beer fridge is mentioned in the hope of capturing a market of youngsters and tempting them into a ‘culture’ of ‘teamwork’ and we use it to describe what is meant to be an awesome workplace.
Looking for a new share space office recently, a colleague was horrified to see beer on tap and ping pong for the staff. ‘I get to pay for that in my rent costs’ she said. ‘I’m sure as heck not subsidising people to play ping pong and get drunk on my dollar. I’m trying to grow a business here!’
But sure, you don’t HAVE to have a drink do you? No-one is forcing anyone. You can be an individual if you want.
Uh, ok, sure, because young people are not susceptible to peer pressure at all, are they? Or feel that they must do it to fit in to this Silicon valley wish-it-was culture? Or be part of the ‘culture’ to fit in.
Alcohol use amongst young people is already at dangerous levels here in Australia. (Young people are considered to be within the ranges of 15 and 29 btw) Most people have little comprehension that even low level alcohol use can contribute to heart disease, breast cancer, other cancers and stroke. But it’s not only that. How do you defend your company policy of having a culture of drinking at work when one of your staff has an accident leaving the office because they’re drunk? Or the constant drinking pushes them down the road of alcoholism? How are you really looking after your staff if you’re offering them a drug culture in their workplace? This is a legal case waiting to happen. Are employers thinking that far forward?
According to Sidekicker, the ten most appealing perks and benefits companies can give their workers, as rated by the Aussie workforce are:
1. Flexible working arrangements (59%)
2. Extra superannuation (35%)
3. Unlimited leave (31%)
4. Professional development (26%)
5. Insurance/finance discounts (19%)
6. Lease car (19%)
7. Additional paid parental leave (17%)
8. Purchase extra annual leave (15%)
9. Health / Wellness programs (14%)
10. Free food & coffee machines (12%)
Does anyone see ‘Well stocked beer fridge’ listed there?
Australia, it’s time to think outside the keg.
Annabel Hollins-Cliff is a photographer, a writer, quite partial to vintage motors and a mindful drinker. Some may say she also has a knack for future-telling based on the many recent revelations around alcohol-related workplace incidents which has brought the role of alcohol at work firmly into the spotlight. You can check out Annabel’s awesome work here: www.ahcphoto.com