Poor old Bridget. She's a working woman riddled with vices - smoking like a chimney and drinking for England. Her antics appear to be harmless fun, but what effect is her lifestyle having on her career? If you want to get ahead, don't do a Bridget

When Bridget Jones’s Diary was published in 1996, ‘Ladette’ culture loomed on the horizon. Everyone spent evenings guzzling Chardonnay and smoking their lungs out. It wasn't just socially acceptable, it was deeply de rigeur.

Bridget’s diary entry for Tuesday 19 December reflects the 1996 standard: ‘Alcohol units 9... cigarettes 30...9.a.m. Oh God, feel awful: horrible sick acidic hangover...’

‘That’s nothing,’ laugh Louise and Gina. Like Bridget, Louise and Gina are both in their thirties and work in the media.

‘I don’t go out every night,’ says Louise, lighting a cigarette. ‘Maybe two or three times a week. I’ll have three or four glasses of wine or a few cocktails.’

‘Even if I go straight home, I’ll open a bottle to drink, while I’m watching ER,’ Gina butts in. ‘And I don’t think we’re that unusual. Look around you,’ she waves a hand at the crowd that have packed into the smoky wine bar. ‘Everyone’s at it. It’s a great way to unwind.’

Gina has got one thing right: a lot of young women are still living the Bridget Jones lifestyle. Recent surveys suggest British women are progressively drinking more. The Royal College of Physicians published a report, saying at least 27 per cent of women drink more than the recommended weekly amount, compared to only 15 per cent of men. Specialists say this has resulted in an unprecedented number of cases of cirrhosis of the liver among women in their 20s.

According to the National Statistics Office, the number of smokers in this country has declined dramatically over the last ten years, the only group where the smoking is still on the rise, is that of young women. In the US, the Surgeon General recently reported that lung cancer is now the leading cause of cancer death among US women; it surpassed breast cancer in 1987.

Neither Gina nor Louise are stupid. They both know that a mouth like an ashtray and the inevitable hangovers, are only the tip of the iceberg. What they don’t yet realise is that smoking and drinking can also be bad for their careers.

Take smoking. Andrew Erskine runs a contemporary art gallery and consultancy. He readily admits to discriminating against smokers in his hiring policy. ‘For a start, it wouldn’t do much for the art if people had to look at it through a fog of cigarette smoke,’ he says. ‘And it wouldn’t be any better if my employees were constantly nipping outside for a fag. Having a bunch of people standing in the rain smoking on your doorstep – how’s that going to look? I’ll tell you: it doesn’t look good. Basically, I think it’s a nasty habit, and I don’t know why I should pay for somebody to be killing themselves on my time.’

Andrew’s concerns about the effect smokers might have on his profit margins are not unique. Researchers from York University and Guys Hospital, London, have estimated that smoke breaks cost British industry £100 million per week or £5 billion per year.

Non-smoking colleagues can be equally disparaging of their colleague’s habits. A recent survey by Nicorette revealed that 58 per cent of non-smokers think that having smokers hanging around the doorway is bad for their company’s image. Forty-five per cent of them also said they think smoking co-workers should have their pay docked for their five-minute absences.

In a growing number of American states and Canadian provinces, it has become illegal to smoke in any public building – and that includes your place of employment. Indications are that, here in Britain, we might soon be following suit. In 2001, Tower Hamlets Council in London put forward a plan to make smokers work an extra two and a half hours a week. Thurrock Council in Essex introduced a similar scheme a year earlier. Even in companies where smoking is tolerated, smokers are being marginalised.

‘We have a smoking room in the basement,’ says Louise. ‘But it isn’t very nice. They throw all the old office furniture that nobody wants anymore in there. It’s never cleaned. The ashtrays get so full that they spill onto the floor, and there are half empty coffee cups with cigarette butts in them all over the place. The only time I go in there is when I’m desperate to get away from the stress.’

Reports by the TUC and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development earlier this year, independently concluded that modern working life is too often dominated by stress, long hours and the sheer pressure of work. Fifty-six per cent of people questioned by the CIPD said that the balance between work and their personal life was weighted too heavily towards their job, and more than a third described themselves as workaholics. Smoking is one way of dealing with these pressures but alcohol is even more popular.

Fiona Simpson is an editor for a major broadsheet. ‘The stereotype of a journalist is of a hard drinking smoker,’ she says. ‘Even when I was six months pregnant, if I went out for lunch with fellow editors or execs they looked at me askance when I said I just wanted mineral water. Most of them are men and I think they’re still stuck in some kind of 1970s rut where, in order to relax or to grease the wheels of business, they think they’ve got to have a glass of whisky in one hand and a cigar in the other.’

For women in particular the pressure to drink in such work-related situations can be complex. A survey of 5,000 women by Alcohol Concern concluded that women turn to drink not just to alleviate the stress of work but also to bond with male colleagues.

Fiona recognises this scenario. ‘Despite the advances women have made in the workplace the overall culture is still very macho and can be very competitive. If they haven’t got the necessary bits hanging between their legs, a lot of women will feel the only way they can make an impact is by drinking their boss or co-workers under the table.’

But making an impression in the pub is probably going to be vastly outweighed by the impact your throbbing brain makes on your skull the next morning. Indeed, the Department of Health has become so concerned about the ramifications of alcohol-related problems in the workplace that they have banded together with Alcohol Concern to offer advice, consultancy and training to organisations and employers.

‘Alcohol misuse is a major issue affecting employers and employees in the UK, impacting on the health, safety and welfare of staff as well as on business productivity and profits,’ they say. Absenteeism costs British industry an estimated £2 billion a year and has been shown, in their studies, to have a strong relationship to occasional excessive or inappropriate drinking.

‘It may take longer than one day to recover from a heavy binge, and an employee may experience fatigue, depression or anxiety at this time,’ reports Alcohol Concern. ‘This in turn can affect colleagues and workplace morale.’ Then there are the safety issues: Alcohol Concern says that as many as 20 to 25 per cent of workplace accidents cite alcohol as a contributory factor.

‘Face it,’ says Fiona. ‘If you come back from lunch half tanked you’re not going to be particularly sharp, are you? And you’re not going to be the kind of person I want to delegate more responsibility to.’

She suggests that ambitious young women who want to bond with their work colleagues look for alternatives. ‘Ladette culture is definitely out,’ she says. ‘We’re all domestic goddesses now. For our Christmas party last year, instead of going out for a boozy lunch, we went and spent the afternoon at a health spa. It might not be for everyone, but there’s nothing like seeing your boss or secretary in a bathing suit to really break the ice.’

Not everyone might want to replace bonding over a glass of wine with bonding in a Jacuzzi, but Fiona makes a valuable point. With a little imagination on the part of her and her colleagues, maybe even Bridget Jones could be persuaded to cut down on the booze and the fags and start investing in her new career as a millennial goddess.