work husbands and work wives) are becoming a thing of the past. It seems to be a combination of more people WFH and younger generations just not all that interested in having friends at work. Plus I would think that inflation plays a small role; some people used to like to out for a drink after work with their co-workers but now they're saving their money for outings with friends or just not going out at all.
It all makes me think of a conversation I initiated here a couple years ago after the Swiss Miss told me she was quitting in part because she didn't feel like we were a work "family". I asked SZ how important it was to have work friends--not just be cordial to your co-workers and expect cordialness in return but actually hang with co-workers after work--and the answers were split almost 50/50, with some saying work is where you spend most of your waking time so it just makes sense to become friends with your co-workers and some saying nah, I'm there to do a job, not make friends, and my co-workers aren't that great anyways. While I sympathized with the Swiss Miss, I didn't agree that it was terribly important to hang out with co-workers after hours.
