HR Management & Compliance

Are We Seeing the End of Lunch?

Workplace stress is causing a continuous … and many think unhealthy … decline in time off taken for lunch. Here’s what one government agency employer is doing about it.

“What’s for lunch?”

That’s a question millions of workers are NOT asking these days, according to trend studies conducted over the past few years. The studies show a steady and, to some, concerning, decline in the time workers take for a noonday meal.

One such series of studies, as reported in the Greeley (Colo.) Tribune, was done by office furniture maker Steelcase. In 1996, the lunch “hour” was averaging about 36 minutes for the workers surveyed. By 2005, the time taken had dropped by 14 percent.

Even more dramatic indications of the trend came from studies by restaurant giant Kentucky Fried Chicken. In 2000, only 3 percent of those surveyed took a full hour for lunch, and this year, 63 percent called the 60-minute lunch hour “the biggest myth in office life.” Another study noted that 75 percent of U.S. workers eat, but don’t take a break from work. They dine at their desks at least three times a week. Many don’t eat at all.

What’s going on, and why is it concerning?

Although some companies have, at their workers’ request, exchanged a shorter lunch hour for an earlier end to the workday, a larger factor seems to be the stress of work life. The number of hours available no longer seem adequate to do the work required, say many employees.

“I don’t know anyone who really has a lunch hour anymore,” says Kristi Helzer, owner of a Colorado public relations firm, “because everyone is cramming everything in, and our employers are expecting more. It’s so competitive out there. You want to keep your job and do your best. It’s insane.”

Pleeeezzeee Go to Lunch!

It’s also unhealthy, say medical experts. Blood sugar levels drop every 4 to 5 hours. If proper midday nourishment is skipped or shortchanged, performance suffers and mistakes increase. That’s prompted an innovative solution at government agencies in Nova Scotia, Canada. Management is actively pushing its people to go to lunch. Postcards have been sent to all employees, reminding them to “take back the lunch break,” and citing as reasons, the need to “relax, refocus, refresh, reenergize.”

Eating isn’t the only midday activity the experts recommended. Studies show that a 10-minute walk at lunch can spark a 2-hour burst of afternoon energy.

The Nova Scotia government is neither measuring results of its program nor is it taking noonday attendance (if it were, being present would draw a penalty!). “It’s strictly an awareness campaign,” said Department of Human Resources staffer Michelle Lucas. “But it brings something out in the open that we’ve all gotten away from. Hopefully, it will go a long way toward bringing back healthy habits.”

Workers have reacted positively to the program. “Some even e-mailed HR,” said Lucas. “Their messages read, ‘I’m going to lunch.’”

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1 thought on “Are We Seeing the End of Lunch?”

  1. Great article! For me personally, I eat at my desk so I can go home on time. There would not be any leaving early as the work load just will not allow that.

    I have done this since 1997! It seems to work for me. There is the occasional going out for lunch, but I can count those times on two hands.

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