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Socializing For The Win?
The Living Fractal notes: "Yahoo! Business has an article about workplace socializing. Apparently, those who drink alcohol and socialize make more money on average."
According to the article:
"Regular drinkers make 10% to 14% more money than those who do not drink, according to the study, conducted by the Journal of Labor Research, published quarterly by the Department of Economics at George Mason University, and the Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based think tank."
Fractal wonders: "This article spawns a few questions. Do those 'regular drinkers' end up spending that extra 10-14% on booze? Who here is a social drinker? Finally, have you noticed this in your workplace?"
Sure, it may be easier to go and have a drink to catch up, but would someone who chose non-alcoholic drink when they socialised make less money? Would someone who drank alone at home make more money than someone who drank tea alone at home?
Perhaps theres just as much of a correlation between non drinking and making less money. As a college student who doesn't drink I also don't feel that much of a need to get the highest paying job available. Once I get all these loans payed off it doesn't matter to me whether my car is brand new or 10 years old. Perhaps it has to do with a desire for worldly things, whether it's good times while drunk, or lots of money to buy stuff.
Of course the boss' drinking buddy gets the corner office. You didn't actually think that people get promoted because of their good performance did you? If anything, it's the other way around, the bad performers get promoted so they can do less harm.
How we know is more important than what we know.
Here's to wealth! So maybe alcohol is key to success in mainstream business, but it looks like acid is the drug for you if you want to make it in the tech industry.
------ Take away the right to say fuck and you take away the right to say fuck the government.
That's probably one of the most outdated bitter views I've ever read.
Most 'execs' these days don't have assistants anymore. That role was killed to save money and now the role falls between them and their line managers. In the rare case where a PA does still exist, she's normally shared among 4+ execs.
Just one last question - where would your job be without those deals and those sales? Ever think that maybe some people hate the whole sales process, but they do it anyway because it's their job? How much fun do you think it is for a woman being pawed by a customer and not being able to say anything because it would cost her the sale? How much fun do you think it is for a family man to have potential clients oggling women and behaving badly, and not be able to say anything about it because it would cost the sale?
On the flip side, I've noticed that since not just going to work and going home, but staying around once or twice a month to socialise, my salary has increased by 30%. Just making contacts and networking is far more than learning some new technology.
I mean, by Australian standards a "social drinker" is probably an alcoholic in America and a teetotaller in Ireland ;).
On a more serious note, it's not hard to see why there would be a correleation between socialising and improved job performance. Even ignoring the obvious schmoozing and brown-nosing possibilities, if you socialise more with people from work, you're far more likely to know more about how the business works, its current problems (and successes) and modify your work habits appropriately to address the problems and/or act on the strengths, thus making you a greater asset to the business and more likely to be prompted/paid more.
With that said, any attempts to attach a causative relationship between drinking and income is working on *very* shaky ground IMHO.
As a junior java developer for an investment bank in London I see there is certainly a drinking culture here. Its sort of team building to go out for a few pints with guys from work. Aside from that it can never hurt to mix with you managers and colleagues in any kind of social situation outside the office. Its just that drinking is the easiest one to do as there is a bar somewhere near every office here. If senior management know your face and have had a few laughs with you, they're more likely to respect your views in the office and reward you on bonus day. The best gossip and 'career advice' are usually heard outside the office anyway. It might not be the healthiest or cheapest pasttime but at least its better than golf...
Yes, the problem is with me. My problem is that I socialize with people only if I enjoy their company, not just because they have the power to increase my salary. It's a problem I'm proud to have.
"The amount of intelligence on this planet is a constant. The population is growing." -Cole's Axiom