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“The lunch rush is dead.”
So says an NBC article released earlier this week based on data shared by Square.
According to the figures, employees just aren’t spending as much during their weekday lunch hours. Square says the volume of transactions Monday through Friday has dropped 3.3% compared to 2019.
What gives? Well, through a combination of tighter budgets amid a cost-of-living squeeze, a drop in the amount of in-office work, and bigger and busier workloads than ever, workers appear to be ditching their historic lunchbreaks in favor of greater spending on the weekend.
“That’s been the largest transformation in the last four or five years — the consumer habits of office workers,” states Ara Kharazian, Research Lead at Square. “But that money has gone somewhere else: We’re seeing consumers instead spend money on the weekends.”
Where and how their workers choose to spend their money is generally no concern of the employer. But as the great American lunch hour shows signs of fading away, HR should be concerned—and take steps to protect it, thanks to the myriad benefits a 60-minute chow-down with colleagues can bring.
Work demands & fear of judgment driving the decline of the lunch hour
As the figures from Square show, the drop is not drastic. But there’s undoubtedly a trend of workers ditching leisurely lunches with colleagues at local establishments in favor of home-brought lunches scoffed quickly with only a crumb-dusted keyboard for company.
Speaking as someone who has always made and brought their own lunch to work, this is certainly not an attack on those who choose to do so. Instead, it’s a warning that whatever employees choose to eat, the fact that many feel forced to take short, solitary lunch breaks is a worrying trend.
ezCater’s second annual ‘Lunch Report,’ released in December 2023, confirms this stark reality. Surveying over 5,000 workers from companies across the US, the report found that 40% of respondents said they were more likely to never take a lunch break than they were just a year prior. 48% said they skip lunch at least once a week.
Why? Because they want to complete work and fear judgment from their bosses about taking a lengthy lunch break. This is particularly true for more junior employees, including Gen Z workers who are the most likely to skip meals at work, with 70% skipping lunch once a week. They were also twice as likely to worry that their bosses would judge them for taking a lunch break.
Why HR should be worried about the decline of the lunch hour
The decline of the lunch hour poses a risk to employers. Whether or not company leadership will actually judge workers for taking a full hour to eat a square meal and catch up with their colleagues, they have to be sure their employees feel safe and confident to do so.
Lunch breaks have historically been a staple of the working day as one of the few moments workers get to unwind and chat with their peers. Research on health and wellbeing consistently shows that taking a lunch break has countless benefits including mental and physical health, engagement, concentration, and productivity.
While skipping a lunch break may seem appealing to an employee trying to meet a tight deadline, HR teams have to be sure their workers understand why this will not only work against them as they try to complete their afternoon’s tasks, but could also put them on the path to burnout.
Moreover, while workers should not be forced to spend their lunch breaks with anyone if they would prefer to be alone, the lunch hour is also a fantastic opportunity for team-building. Community, respect, and trust between peers are forged when employees have the time and freedom to catch up over a meal.
Fewer Americans than ever take their lunch hour each day to eat food, share stories, and build relationships with the people they work with, and HR professionals must not neglect this worrying trend.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off for a sandwich and a snickers while I catch up with my colleague Serena. Sayonara!
