Are lunch breaks becoming frowned upon in the corporate 9-5 world? (interviewing, jobs)
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Most managers I have known have always encouraged their employees to take the time off given to them (whether that is lunch time, sick time, vacation time, etc). Having time away from work keeps your mind fresh and ready to handle the tasks you have. Everyone needs a break.
Having said that, it may depend on the culture of your particular office. It is possible that the higher ups there are "rewarding" folks who appear to be "indispensable" and always available. Truth is, they are not indispensable or irreplaceable.
I think fewer people are going out to lunch more for health or financial reasons than anything else. It can get expensive to eat out everyday, and most times a well packed brown bag lunch is healthier.
I also think that many times the younger generation thinks that killing themselves working all those hours makes them look good to their employers. IMO, it just makes you look like a sucker.
We are allowed up to an hour for lunch. Not many people take the full hour. I typically take 30-45 minutes, which is more in line with the company culture most days. Many people eat at their desks, which I've done on busier days. It is more typical for me to leave my desk, eat at the table in the company kitchen, talk with some co-workers (about safe non-work topics), and then go back to work. I need the break to clear my mind.
I am salaried and usually eat at my desk but not because of pressure. I like to read online while I eat.
We get paid for 7.5 hours a day so I work either 8 to 4 or 9 to 5 and leave after 8 hours regardless of the lunch break. If I have work due I work through lunch and two or three days a month, during month-end close I work 7 to 6/7.
To me once you are on salary you get paid for deliverables and as you are responsible for structuring your time to make sure you complete quality work on time.
I will say I do this now because I have a great relationship with both levels of upper management but I think it should be the norm.
Most people at my company seem to follow the same logic. Many eat at their desk and then go for a walk for the rest of the time.
I can read on my phone outside the building. Unless it's raining or just plain miserable out, I'd rather read on my phone and listen to the radio in my car. I simply don't want to be bothered on my lunch time.
I think people saying that they can take twenty to thirty minutes for lunch and still think that's great QoL (if they can't leave early) just shows how rotten things are getting these days.
I think fewer people are going out to lunch more for health or financial reasons than anything else. It can get expensive to eat out everyday, and most times a well packed brown bag lunch is healthier.
I think that depends on an employee's particular work situation.
For example, I work in a windowless office. We have a lunchroom/breakroom, but alas, no windows there, either. I find it healthy to utilize the lunch break to the fullest extent, to get outside to see what daylight looks like, and maybe get a little Vitamin D in the process.
Furthermore, given the reactive nature of some of my work, I often end up getting interrupted on my lunch break, when I eat in. (Oh, sorry, are you on lunch right now?) When I'm at the office, I feel obligated to at least assess the situation, instead of brushing off the request right away. When I'm not there, I can't be interrupted like that.
A well-packed lunch can indeed be a healthier option, and probably a little cheaper than a prepared meal eaten out, but I think most people just bring something like a ham sandwich, chips, and a soda, or maybe leftovers from the night before.
I work from home. Some days I work through lunch. Other days I head off to my bedroom and take a 1-hour nap. Some days I'll go out to get a sandwich and take the full hour or run some errands.
For my company, our workday hours are more guidelines than anything else. Most of us put in more time than the minimum required, so we don't really get monitored. My boss is forever telling me to take a day off and not register it as a PTO day. If I have to run an errand or leave early, no one really cares. We have a certain amount of trust between management and staff at our company. It's small enough that we are all invested in its success. And our bosses don't want any of us to burn out if it can be helped.
But I like to work while I'm eating. I take long breaks during the day to compensate when I do.
I usually take my lunch every day unless there is an unusually heavy workload or I have a meeting. Personally, I don't care if some famous CEO lectures the public that they should be skipping lunch breaks, working late every night/weekends or they are "lazy".
I believe it is becoming more and more of a "problem" for some people. It depends on what you do for your job. I'm a recruiter by trade, and at my last company I remember one afternoon that just had me shaking my head.
I was sitting in my office, and my junior recruiter was out to lunch. I had assigned him specifically to working on one of our lines of business, when the account manager for said line of business came barging into my office...I mean, I think she literally either kicked or shoulder-rammed the door in, because it hit the stopper so hard it flung back and almost hit her square in the face.
Her: "Where's David?"
Me: "Excuse me?"
(we shared an office - I always had new team members sit with me for a few months before I gave them complete autonomy)
Her: "I need him right now. Why isn't he here?"
Me: "Because he's at lunch. He left 30 minutes ago, he'll be back before 2."
Her: "SH*T!"
Me: "Is there something I can help you with? It seems like it must be urgent." (yes, there was at least SOME snark to it)
Her: "No. I want David right now."
Me: "...........he'll be back soon. Is something wrong? If he made a mistake then I need to know since he reports to me."
Her: "I have a new requisition from the client and we need to hire 6 more people by Friday."
Me: "It's Wednesday at 1:30 in the afternoon. There's no way we can do that."
Her: "This is unacceptable. He needs to be here right now."
Me: "Dana, he is at lunch, as he is entitled to be. I'm not calling him to come back early from his lunch. I know I assigned him to your line of business, but any one of us can help you with whatever it is you need, and I'm telling you there's no way we are going to be able to hire six more people for this account by Friday when the entire hiring process for one of these agents is a 3 day affair. It just isn't going to happen."
Her: (some sort of unintelligible grumbling and cursing) "This is unacceptable. You all need to be here."
Me: "Dana, first, we don't report to you. Second, we are salaried 8 to 5 employees, and we are all guaranteed a one hour lunch. If you have an issue with us taking lunch, please take it up with HR and Thomas (our overall boss). I am not cutting his lunch short."
Her: *curses under breath and storms out*
This is one example, of MANY interactions that I've had with people who b**ch and moan about lunch breaks. In my role, I am/was the team lead for an internal recruiting team, so any time there is a hiring need the account managers would be all over us to get people hired. They would b**ch and moan whenever we weren't in the office to anyone who would listen. I've observed managers throwing fits over employees taking their scheduled lunch breaks, and I've seen upper management throw fits when line level managers take their lunch breaks.
It's not that the notion of lunch is becoming something that's "bad", it's just that companies are putting increased pressure on employees and making them feel like s**t for taking lunch breaks that are entitled to them.
I've always wondered where "9-5" came from. In my experience it's always been 8-5 with an hour lunch baked in to that. I'm salaried working at one of those "best places to work" and they highly encourage us to take lunch and other breaks just to get away from the desk and stretch if nothing else. Also push us to actually use our vacation time and get free days off if we've had to put in overtime/off hour support.
Now that I've moved to the west coast but still in a primarily east coast company the timing can get a little weird due to not being able to accommodate all time zones when scheduling meetings but definitely do still take it.
But heck even when I worked for Walmart when I was younger on an 8 hour shift management was very mindful that we take our hour lunch and two 15 min breaks.
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