Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Get Happy

After the last e-mail or client call of the day, workers by the thousands leave offices and head to bars and restaurants.

About one-fifth of workers said they have gone out after work with colleagues at least once in their careers, according to a survey of a sample of more than 6,000 U.S. workers Harris Interactive performed for CareerBuilder.com.

People who work in law or accounting firms or for financial services organizations were the most likely to bring together booze and business after hours, with about a third going to happy hour.

Most (82 percent) said they head to the bar to bond with co-workers. Other reasons given include networking, bonding with the boss or catching up on office gossip.

Not everyone attends happily, though. One in eight respondents said they feel obligated to show up.

Nearly four in 10 workers said they skip happy hours because they like to keep their work and personal lives separate.

They miss out on some interesting perspectives: According to the poll, folks share secrets, kiss and bad-mouth management. And one in nine respondents said they have seen someone drink too much and act unprofessionally.

-Vickie Elmer