Insurance industry takes 3rd place for virtual happy hours

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After finance and engineering, insurance nabbed the third spot among industries now taking part in virtual office happy hours, as COVID-19 has more professionals working from home, according to a study released Tuesday by Chicago-based alcoholic beverage company Phusion Projects.

Phusion surveyed 2,007 people in April to better understand the emerging trend of online happy hours: Where? (Home, where 42% say they are self-conscious about coworkers seeing their abode.) How? (More than half — 55% — chose Zoom.) Why? (Why not? It found 41% of workers are drinking more during quarantine.)

By industry, 70% of those working in insurance have attended such virtual events. By comparison, 75% and 72% of those in finance and engineering, respectively, have taken part.

Yet, Phusion found that the average online office happy hour falls short at just 35 minutes.