At companywide conferences, Bethany Mascena’s firm used to have what was called “lobby social club”: Colleagues would convene at the end of the day to drink and hang out.
Mascena, a Gen Xer from Rhode Island, works remotely as a franchise launch director for a company that helps franchisees get their businesses off the ground. While her firm is fully dispersed, they’re also very social. Over the past year, however, the hangout culture has shifted from late-night drinks to early-morning workouts like Pilates and yoga. In the mornings, colleagues often meet up at 6 o’clock to run or walk a three-mile loop.
Those loops draw workers across “all different positions in the company — from directors to VPs to administrative support out there,” Mascena said. It’s an opportunity for “walking and talking and connecting in a way that’s just different than happy hour.”
It’s one sign of how coworker bonding is changing as folks are drinking less, in-person schedules are more variable with the rise of hybrid work, and work friendships are flailing.
The downfall of after-work drinks doesn’t mean socializing is dead. Instead, some workers are getting creative: Think rage rooms, pickleball, saunas, and intense workouts. In a more wellness-minded America — and one where folks might want to optimize their post-work time — there’s a focus on ways to boost endorphins other than the best beer deal. This shift might also mean forging deeper relationships along the way.
What coworkers are doing beyond drinks
Kayla Merchant, a 39-year-old compliance manager who works remotely in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has experienced both in-person and online alternatives to happy hour. Her old law firm wanted to add perks for staff — as well as potentially bring down insurance premiums — and brought in a trainer to lead in-person workout classes for employees.
“A lot of us, we weren’t super close before the workout class,” Merchant said. The exercise enthusiasts were spread across departments and floors. She said she’s still friends with some of the people she worked out with 15 years later.
Merchant’s experience isn’t an anomaly. Business Insider reported in October that fitness studios like Barry’s and F45 have seen a surge in corporate bookings. Barry’s saw a 55% surge in its corporate events and bookings business compared to the year prior. F45 similarly shared that it went from booking an average of one corporate fitness event a month at an offsite or conference, to as many as four.
Of course, the happy hour will likely never be fully vanquished. Getting together for a drink after a long day still very much has its appeal. Manhattan’s infamous Stone Street is still drawing crowds, and workers in many major US cities spent more on happy hours in 2024 than they did in 2019. Some of that might be from fusing post-work drinking with more novel activities, like pickleball or blowing off steam in a rage room.
Candice Pokk, a senior consultant for organizational effectiveness at benefits and HR consultancy Segal, said that she’s seen increased interest in in-person events. “Younger employees are craving experiences and not just freebies,” she said, adding that she’s seen organizations moving away from merely offering wellness perks like gym memberships or meditation app subscriptions, and instead investing in unique shared experiences for employees.
CityPickle, which will soon operate a total of 25 pickleball courts across New York City, said the majority of its over 2,000 bookings this year have been corporate. Corporate off-sites, team bonding, and client events have become a major revenue driver, the company said — and that demand helped fuel the opening of its new flagship location in Times Square in February.
The 37,000-square-foot space, which will also serve as CityPickle’s headquarters and its first year-round location, was a strategic choice given proximity to Midtown offices and transit access to major subway lines, said Mary Cannon, the cofounder of CityPickle. The venue includes seven courts, a bar and restaurant, event spaces, and coworking phone booths.
Cannon said happy hour isn’t dead, but it has “evolved,” with companies increasingly choosing venues that offer more than just a bar.
CityPickle isn’t the only venue reimagining happy hour. At Break Bar NYC — which features an extensive nonalcoholic menu — coworkers end their drinks by hurling their glasses against a wall, sometimes with a photo attached. The space also has a projector that lets guests display images in the throwing arena.
Break Bar NYC, which evolved from a former rage room into a more traditional bar setting to reduce liability from injuries, draws individuals, after-work groups, small teams, and corporate buyouts, owner Tom Daly said.
The smashing is typically lighthearted, he said, with some managers opting to bring in photos of themselves or images of the software they use to attach to the glasses their employees shatter.
Seeking authentic connections
Smashing objects with a hammer, sweating in a sauna next to your boss, or cheering on your coworkers as they hit the 2-minute mark in the cold plunge can unlock a different kind of team bonding.
Myles Farmer, the cofounder of the cold plunge and sauna studio Othership, told Business Insider that as people shift away from solely alcohol-centered socializing, workers are seeking ways to connect more “authentically.”
Othership operates in major cities like New York and Toronto and tends to attract workers aged 25 to 45 in fields including finance, law, and medicine, Farmer said. Many are “really stressed” or “wound up,” Farmer said, and the company has seen “huge demand” for corporate outings. He said workers are looking for a mental and physical reset without taking up too much of the workday.
“It provides community and connection, and then they’re back out in the city and back to work,” Farmer said.
He added that Othership, which has plans to open its largest New York location on the Upper East Side next year, has even become a place for workers to host meetings.
“People are looking at these as alternatives to getting to know someone,” Farmer said.
Happy hour alternatives can foster real, lasting connections — and in some cases, even romance. When Julia Bonacini, a 30-year-old LA-based commercial real estate finance professional, first started at her company, she befriended a coworker and learned they both loved Corepower. They started to go together, and another coworker soon joined in. When someone new arrived at the firm, he asked Bonacini to go hiking, and then to a yoga class. He then asked her out, though she initially declined.
When he revealed to her that he had been interviewing elsewhere and was likely to put in his notice, she realized how much she’d miss him. They’ve now been together for two years.
