There's a curious trend in the city of Gothenburg, where I spent last weekend. Bars and restaurants offer "afterwork", a kind of happy hour attended by office workers. Afterwork usually happens on Fridays and in order to entice thirsty colleagues many bars in the early evening offer free buffets and cut-price drinks (although, this being Sweden, a night out still costs the equivalent of the GDP of a small Central American dictatorship).
Nobody really seems to know who started the trend, but several places offer it. And it is undeniably popular. Last Friday, as early as 5.30pm, all the afterwork bars were packed with suits and there were queues outside. Tourists are of course welcome, but the workers usually seem to get there first even when, as in some places, the drinking starts at 4pm.
In practice it is not that different from what goes on in the UK after a day at the office, but it seems unusual that the post-work drink has been formalised. Despite this, from what I understand Swedes don't feel obliged to attend work drinks in the same way as your stereotypical Japanese salaryman did.
In the UK, handing out free pizza to office workers as an inducement to drink is hardly necessary - just look at any high street at around six o'clock on a Friday night. But would formal post-work drinks at your local encourage you to socialise more with your colleagues? Or are you only too glad not to have a reason to have a pint with them?
