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September 20, 2006
Alcohol: Income Booster?
I don’t really drink. I’ll have a glass of wine here and there, but I’m not what you would consider a drinker. But I might have to reconsider this healthy habit, since it could apparently be unhealthy for my wallet.
According to this Yahoo! News article citing a recent study published in the Journal of Labor Research, “drinkers earn 10 to 14 percent more than teetotalers, and…men who drink socially bring home an additional seven percent in pay.”
One can comprehend the applied reasoning -- i.e., that drinkers tend to be more social (the alcohol might help), which is a good platform for networking. Think of it as the cigarette of the 00s. It’s not the drinking, per se, but the social act of gathering around alcohol – with the added brain-altering effect. But I can’t help but wonder: What will be the “drinks after work” shtick of the next decade?
There is one disclaimer: This seeming trend doesn’t seem to affect women like it does men. According to the article, “women who frequent bars at least once per month do not show higher earnings than women drinkers who do not visit bars.” Hmm. Maybe I won’t rethink my anti-habit so soon.
What’s your take? Do you go for drinks after work? Do you see a clear income/power differentiator between those who drink and those who don’t in your office?
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Posted by Maya on September 20, 2006 at 10:57 AM in The Daily Grind | Permalink | Comments (177) | TrackBack (1)
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Comments
I almost always go out with my friends to happy hour at least once per week.
* Having a reoccuring weekly happy hour is a great stress reliever. Not the fact that you're drinking, but knowing that you're not staying late on thursday and you're going to meet up with your friends and have a good time... thats priceless.
* Friends of friends come to happy hour too... so you make new friends. The new friends usually work at different companies, and give you a broader view of whats out there.
Posted by: Adam Phillabaum | Sep 20, 2006 12:36:57 PM
To make it worse - binge drinkers (consuming more than 4 drinks in a single sitting or drinking 4 nights a week) are typically the highest performing salespeople (until the drinking starts to interfere with the work).
Is that really the case? It's doubtful. What's far more likely is the type of person driven to make more money relies on drinking as a crutch against the pressure.
Not to mention, the price of drinking (include gas, cigarettes,food, DUI) is higher as it's post-tax dollars spent on the habit.
Is it the cause or the effect?
Posted by: Jim Durbin | Sep 20, 2006 2:13:01 PM
I think social drinking is essential part of networking, and I regret not being able to partake in it. I drive a great distance, and tend to work 6:30-3:30; even on days where I work an hour or so over, I am usually leaving before anyone else.
Plus, being a dad of two, its hard to schedule leisure time when I need to get home for a Scout meeting, for example.
I find it odd that women were excluded from the benefits; many women I know have found new employment from friends (both male and female) at a watering hole.
Posted by: Charlie on the PA Turnpike | Sep 21, 2006 8:43:11 AM
Interestingly enough, I have just observed this to be fact in my own life. When I am going out on company dinners, doing the the toxic tradeshow shuffle and meeting people for drinks..I am making more money. Significantly more. It brings new deals my way, new contacts, resources and breathes an electricity into my work.
On the other hand, when I am rushing home to my son, being an introvert (aka "responsible") I don't make the same money. I don't have that fire. I say creating a balance and a win/win situation is possible. I wholeheartedly agree with the gentlemen above as to the bar scene costing more of the take home pay than the *added 7% of income. But in my experience, the social scene adds more like 30-50% to my income. Sales!
Posted by: Donia in Smel(LA) | Sep 28, 2006 10:25:46 PM
Well, it all depends. And cultural and geographical differences also play a very important role in it. For socializing with other people, we should not limit ourselves with only one activity - Drinking. There can be other ways to meet new people and make new ways for more earning like... anythings. We should try to spend more time with our family members (other than the usual working hours)and stop being money-making machines all the time.
Posted by: Naveed | Oct 5, 2006 1:24:09 AM
The comments all suggest that the people are networking, not drinking. You can order ginger ale or sip on wine. No one asks you what is in your glass. So order a few rounds and keep silent on how you feel about drinking. Trust me, no one in a bar cares.
Posted by: George Sitgraves | Oct 6, 2006 1:30:44 PM
Personally, I drink both with co-workers and as a stress reliever at times. I think people who work difficult high pressure jobs tend to follow suit, hence the higher income level. I do not however think that if I decided to stop drinking that eventually my income would fall.
Work Hard, Play Hard, It's that simple!
Posted by: Bill | Oct 6, 2006 2:35:34 PM
I've been going to this one tavern for the last nine months.I was very satisfied when I met a guy that eventually lead to a new career. I get paid more than before and the hours are really good as well. I for one have nothing against going to a watering hole and meeting new people. It helped me move on with my life as well as made myself known in a larger and upscale community. Since majority of the people that go to this tavern are professionals in their own fields.
Posted by: Jarek | Oct 7, 2006 7:39:29 AM
life is becoming hard. how to see the good things and be happy has become most difficult.
Posted by: anurag | Oct 7, 2006 5:37:05 PM
I definitely found that 'socializing' with a drink is a great 'bonding' experience especially with higher ups, from presidents to directors. Yes it DOES make a difference if you have ginger ale and they have a 'real' drink. However, wine or a beer can be sipped slowly while the others go at whatever pace they want. And when I was the boss, I felt a better connection with those who jooined me in a 'drink'. Note, I also spotted those who drank 'too much' even if they were taking a taxi home and was never too impressed with them.
Posted by: SMMB | Oct 31, 2006 6:43:05 PM
Perhaps drinkers are making more money, because they are working to support their habit and the other expenses we all have.
Posted by: dj | Oct 31, 2006 7:13:02 PM
Some people can, and some can't. I drank with the best of them. Lost a climbing career, family, house, and "my pompous attitude".
When I got hurt enough, it still took 4 years of drinking coffee with Bill W to get the message right.
24 years later, I can whip any competition.
There is too much to lose....for some of us. Else? If you can handle it, look out for me. I am "eating your lunch."
Posted by: Scribe | Oct 31, 2006 8:23:36 PM
I wonder if maybe its NOT a cause and effect issue? Maybe its as simple as people who have the personality traits that make them productive and valuable to employers, also have the traits that make them want to drink..... either socially or abusively?
Sort of like people who wear pinstrips also like peanuts. Maybe they are just mutually exclusive traits.
The added benefit to this would be that other productive and successful people would tend to share the same liesure time behaviors (since drinking is also considered a sort of social sport and gathering situation). This creates a situation where productive people are more likely to associate with other productive people outside of the business setting, allowing for more business to be done. Hence making them MORE productive.
Posted by: Kurt | Oct 31, 2006 8:39:28 PM
I don't drink, never have and I don't plan on starting. My issue is not drinking but the perception that many have around those that don't drink. I think they are insulted, like a non-drinker feels like they are better than a drinker. The next belief is that a non-drinker is a religious freak or something, so this makes the drinker uneasy
Posted by: Dennis | Oct 31, 2006 8:49:44 PM
This article only talks about the correlation between drinking and pay. Don't confuse it with causation. Drinking doesn't necessarily CAUSE you to have better pay. Thus changing your drinking habit may very well not increase your pay or even decrease it.
Posted by: szentehen | Oct 31, 2006 8:50:10 PM
Attending social work meetings or parties is a must if you want to move up the ladder. Everyone knows that!
Look at my Uncles, they both work for FORD motor company and one has been in his position for 10plus years and still doesn't have a company car, while my other Uncle has a company car, increase salary, paid training. Even though he comes home to my auntie blinded drunk in the end it’s all worth it if you wanted to be noticed.
No senior management wants to promote a boring old fart. They want outgoing people, in and outside of work. They want social people. If you can display your social abilities to them, it means that you want more than the 9am to 5pm, thank god the clock has ticked over to go home. They want people who enjoy working with the company and the people who they work for.
Posted by: Gabbs | Oct 31, 2006 8:55:30 PM
Attending social work meetings or parties is a must if you want to move up the ladder. Everyone knows that!
Look at my Uncles, they both work for FORD motor company and one has been in his position for 10plus years and still doesn't have a company car, while my other Uncle has a company car, increase salary, paid training. Even though he comes home to my auntie blinded drunk in the end it’s all worth it if you wanted to be noticed.
No senior management wants to promote a boring old fart. They want outgoing people, in and outside of work. They want social people. If you can display your social abilities to them, it means that you want more than the 9am to 5pm, thank god the clock has ticked over to go home. They want people who enjoy working with the company and the people who they work for.
Posted by: Gabbs | Oct 31, 2006 8:57:35 PM
Geography also could be involved here. There are more non-drinkers as a percentage of population in the midwest and south, and there aren't as many high-paying jobs there.
Also, most people who abstain from alcohol do so for religious reasons, and people with a more spiritual outlook on life tend not to worry so much about making gobs of money.
From observation (I'm not saying this is fair, but here it is), I can see the male/female divide on this issue. Most male exec-VPs I've known personally can really put it away. On the other hand, a woman I used to date was always telling me that her co-workers would worry about how to get her home safely from company parties. Don't know how she's doing now, but I didn't exactly get the impression that her drinking helped matters much.
Posted by: Mad Mike | Oct 31, 2006 9:03:31 PM
What a crock :) I for one am a recovering alcoholic and I can tell you from experience that my drinking around coworkers led my "career" at the time straight down the toilet. Since I have been sober I left that "career" and started a whole new one and am now making 3 times as much money as I was making in that old job after I had been there for 16 years. Drinking numbs the senses and eventually destroys lives. Now I know that there are social drinkers out there that can do the drinks after work thing and might make some new connections while doing so. My experience was that the people I met in bars were plastic superficial people that were looking out for themselves and in the end didn't care what happened to the others there. That was just my experience. If it were mandated for me to attend a drinking function to promote my job I'd just have to get a new job. As others have said there are other ways to network. Someone who uses alcohol as their primary tool and source of confidence how are they going to perform on the job if they aren't drunk without the confidence booster?
Posted by: Tommy | Oct 31, 2006 9:12:43 PM
It was only about a month after I started staying after work for a drink or two I noticed a diference in how the managers treated me, and that I got a raise. I get more of the fun tasks, and get trusted more with tasks that require me to carry money or checks without ammounts. My schedual has also been changed to fit my needs better, including giving me off the nights that the group from work (including one of the managers) goes out drinking and clubbing. When the schedual is made I get asked what days are good and bad instead of just having it made based on what requests have been put in.
Posted by: Mike | Oct 31, 2006 9:17:06 PM
Being an alcoholic personally, I have not gained anything from drinking "socially" for work because I can't drink "socially". This disease has also robbed me of a stable career and a relationship that was very important to me. My suggestion is to keep the booze to a dull roar. I'm now having to clean up the messes I made in the past with jobs and burnt bridges.
Posted by: Monie | Oct 31, 2006 9:25:25 PM
Hum, drinking and making more money. Let's see, i was 19 when i started mortgage inspecting and was making around 50000 a year working my tail off, wasn't drinking. Years later after slowing down went to work with an acquaintance from a bar and the guy wasn't trustworthy. the whole deal is being yourself and if your morals dont overcrowd your judgement go for it. as far as making more money while drinking, what if they expect you to be as sociable as that all the time...can't do it, want do it. it's just not human
Posted by: donald | Oct 31, 2006 10:55:49 PM
I really find it hard to believe that anyone is buying this ridiculous study. I mean come on... Soon they'll be saying that smokers make more money that non-smokers or that people who speed on the highway are better at financial planning.
I think like others have said before, it's not the drinking per se but being at a bar or a party in a social situation is what allows you to make more contacts and therefore get more job leads.
I would like them to do a study of the average intelligence of people who drink more and also a study to see if they are generally happier than the rest of the population.
Posted by: Nick | Oct 31, 2006 11:04:36 PM
I think social drinking is essential part of networking.
Do you actually believe networking is drinking or a part of. I have a very difficult time believing any of this rhetoric. It's certainly not a necessary evil - it is a choice, PERIOD. Let me pose this question after leaving a bar for a one or two drinks NETWORKING and you get pulled over and taken to jail for driving under the influence will your company support the fact "Oh its okay - he/she was only networking or reducing stress". Whatever, I want to see your boss defend that one. Its not happening
Posted by: Todd | Oct 31, 2006 11:44:51 PM
I have seen this in the smoking out on the patio scene. The VP's get chummy fast with their fellow smokers. I can see the 5 o'clock drink generating the same results. Back in the 70's my boss told me not to be humble in my accomplishments that the people who get promoted are the ones whose names are well known by the higher-ups. It doesn't matter if your name is known by the amount of blunders and screw ups you made, or by your positive accomplishments. They are just more comfortable with a name they know.
Posted by: Terry | Oct 31, 2006 11:45:49 PM
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