As I was driving to work this morning there was a report on NPR (Listen to an older NPR report but the same concept) about the quickly vanishing once welcomed hour of the day called the Lunch Hour. It was reported today that on average most American workers are taking a half hour with many shrinking that to less than 10 minutes of lunch at their desks. According to a USA Today story in November of 2006,
57.9% eat lunch at their desk while continuing to work
Let’s go one step furhter. A company in Utah Valley that offered employees who worked straight through lunch could leave 30 minutes early from work was surprised when a majority of the employees accepted the offer.
After heating up my home made beef stew (thanks Cyn!) I realized that I too was part of the statistic. In fact, if it weren’t for the Domino’s pizza deal (1 three topping medium pizza a week for an entire year) that I won in an on air auction for my local public radio station (KPCW - Park City) I wouldn’t get out for lunch other than to walk to Smith’s or Wild Oats for the occasional dinner roll, banana or my favorite raisin bran muffin at Oats. Even so when I do walk to Smith’s or Wild Oats with a couple of co-workers it’s more about getting away from the computer than it is the food and sadly it only lasts about 15 minutes.
But in the NPR report above (did you listen to it?) reported a lot of American workers are doing other things than lunch if they do take the time away from the office. So I did some poking and found this graphic:
(image and data courtesy of Steelcase.com)
Steelcase also reported
“The two-hour lunch is a thing of the past,” said Rick Mohr, manager of the Advanced Solutions team at Steelcase. “More people are working through their lunch hours because the nature of work has changed. For example, there is increased pressure to perform and get things done in today’s more complex business environment. Also in some organizations, up to 70 percent of the workday is spent working in teams, and those people need to find time to get their individual tasks done during the workday. Lastly, office workers may just want to get home to their families a little earlier at the end of the day in search of some quality time.”
I would completely agree, except for the occasional two-hour lunch when I go ski at The Canyons with a co-worker.
I doubt this will change my work habits or rather my lunch hour habits but it does reveal a bigger picture of the direction society is taking regarding work habits and relaxation - that the two don’t mix well. And with that cue, and the absence of my beef stew it’s back to work…
Further reading:
The Disappearing Lunch Hour at Steelcase.com
Lunch Break Becomes Briefer as Lunch “Hour” Shrinks at USAToday.com
