To quote the artist formerly known as Prince you won’t find staff at National Australia Bank that are going to “Party like it’s 1999” – at least not during work hours. Among banks and other large corporations, sobriety is the new black.
Many mining and manufacturing workplaces have had liquor bans in place for decades. And it’s a safe bet that in 10 years no one will be writing a comment piece about workplace drinking. It will be banned – and viewed as a historic curiosity. I doubt ANZ can blame shiraz for traders allegedly manipulating the benchmark 10-year futures rate when ANZ managed a $14 billion government bond sale last year.But it does shine a spotlight on the coincidence of various scandals, including harassment, with alcohol in the mix.
The evolution of corporate policies on culture including drinking, are already following a societal shift in alcohol consumption. Numerous studies over the past 20 years have shown that people are drinking less alcohol.