MILLENNIAL workers in Scotland believe not drinking alcohol can damage their career prospects as they can no longer socialise with their bosses after work.
Two -fifths (28%) of Scottish workers aged 25-34 said they thought abstaining from booze dented their hopes of promotion.
By comparison just eight per cent of workers aged 18-25 and 21% of those aged 35-44 felt the same according to research carried out to mark Alcohol Awareness Week.
The booze culture at work is most prevalent among men in Scotland, with 18% feeling that being a non-drinker would hold them back compared to just nine per cent of women.
Two-fifths (39%) of adults in Scotland say they feel pressurised to drink by their friends and a quarter (28%) say they have had to change their friends because they do not drink as much, according to the survey for Mocktails by Atomik Research.
A further 28% say they are not invited to social gatherings because they are a non-drinker, according to the survey.
Sixteen per cent of young people aged 18-24 I Scotland said they do not drink any alcohol, reflecting a recent survey that showed younger people in Britain are shunning booze.
Bill Gamelli, CEO of Mocktails, said: “It is a shame that, in this day and age, people feel that not drinking alcohol will damage their career prospects.
“Even though the survey shows that not drinking alcohol is gaining in popularity among younger people, it shows that attitudes towards abstaining from booze are outdated.
“We still have a long way to go before people who choose not to drink no longer feel they are outcasts.”
Those surveyed in Scotland said they drank an average of 8.53 units of alcohol per week; the UK’s chief medical officer recommends people drink no more than 14 units a week.
One unit is approximately the same as half a medium glass of wine or half a pint of beer, depending on its strength.
Men said they drank twice as much in a week (11.23 units) as women (5.65 units).
The UK’s biggest drinkers are in London (14.79 units / week) and the most abstemious in the east of England (6.94 units).
A quarter (23%) of 25-34-year-olds say they only drink because they want regular company and 15% argue with their partner over their drinking.
A fifth (21%) of Brits say they are concerned about their alcohol consumption.
Mr Gamelli said: “Anyone who is concerned about their drinking should be confident that they can walk into a social situation and spend as pleasant an evening not drinking as they would with a drink in their hand.
“It has now become socially acceptable to state that you are a non-meat eater or a vegan, so I would like to see a world where it is equally acceptable to state that you are a non-drinker.”
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