Even in the US, in tech firms, it's pretty common to have happy hours where everyone drinks a bit.
I don't drink at all due to my sleep apnea, and don't even have caffeine after 1pm for the same reason, so I'm pretty much always in this kind of awkward position of sipping on a water throughout the night while coworkers get more and more inebriated.
I don't think it's ever directly hurt my chances of promotion or anything, but I do think it makes socializing harder.
I don't drink at all due to my sleep apnea, and don't even have caffeine after 1pm for the same reason, so I'm pretty much always in this kind of awkward position of sipping on a water throughout the night while coworkers get more and more inebriated.
I don't think it's ever directly hurt my chances of promotion or anything, but I do think it makes socializing harder.