Office happy hours, client dinners and other after-hours work gatherings lose their luster as more people feel the pull of home.

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.

  • net00English
    2·
    10 months ago

    My experience with work “friends” has always gone this way:

    1. I try to be friendly and approachable.
    2. People start asking you consistently for favors, help, and to stick up for them and their issues. I also find that the more they know about you, the easier it is to ask for shit (“hey I remember you said/are/live around/have X, so I was wondering if you could do Y for me”)
    3. Once that happens it’s impossible to shake them off without sounding like an asshole.

    The only solution I see to this curse is to just avoid getting cornered in that situation. I avoid most socializing because of that.

    Now add to this the fact I’m severely underpaid compared to the rest of the team (who do the same thing I do), that I got a promotion with no raise, and than my duties consistently increase, then it would be clear why I only do what’s needed for the job.