WFH didn't make teams lazier - it changed how they take lunch

When remote working surged, a quiet narrative followed it: employees were becoming less productive, less structured, and, in some cases, less disciplined. Whilst evidence to support these assumptions is limited, there is one workplace habit that did genuinely change, not for the better.

Lunch breaks.

Hybrid work fundamentally changed where and how work happens.

Kitchen tables replaced desks. Sofas replaced meeting rooms. The daily commute disappeared overnight.

For many employees, that sounded like freedom. It meant more flexibility and control over their day. A benefit we all can appreciate and value. But flexibility blurred boundaries.

Without the natural structure of leaving the office floor, walking to a café, or stepping out with colleagues, lunch quietly became just another task squeezed into the day. Instead of being a defined pause, it became something employees multitask through...or skip entirely.

Remote workers often don’t stop working to eat. They eat while working.

Lunch now commonly looks like:

• replying to emails while making food
• staying on calls with cameras off while grabbing something quick
• delaying meals to finish “just one more task”
• grazing throughout the afternoon instead of taking a proper break

What started as convenience has turned into a behavioural shift.

The issue isn’t laziness. Far from it. It’s the removal of natural break triggers. Offices, commutes, and social lunch habits used to create enforced pauses in the workday. Working from home removed many of those signals. When employees later return to the office, the behaviour often comes with them.

There’s a growing body of evidence showing that stepping away from work improves cognitive performance, decision-making, and overall productivity. The human brain isn’t designed to maintain constant focus for eight consecutive hours.

Short, genuine breaks support:

• improved concentration
• reduced burnout risk
• stronger afternoon productivity
• better mental and physical wellbeing

In other words, lunch isn’t downtime. It’s recovery time that enables sustained performance.

The problem is, within all the benefits of hybrid working, it has unfortunately made continuous working feel normal.

Many may assume the natural protocal is to make employees return to the office. That would not solve the issue. Most office work is performative; productivity levels do not spike when employees sit at their desks under a cold AC and sterile lighting. Additionally, the need to "look busy" is even more instinctual, meaning many work through lunch to prove their dedication and work ethic.

Another reason offices do not fix the problem is that employees now arrive at the office with pre-formed hybrid behaviours:

• eating quickly between meetings
• prioritising productivity over pause
• treating lunch as optional rather than essential

And modern office schedules are tighter than ever. With hybrid teams coordinating in-person collaboration days, diaries often become compressed with meetings and catch-ups, leaving little protected time for breaks.

Even when employees want to step away, practical barriers like long queues, limited time windows, or uncertainty around lunch availability push them back toward rushed or skipped meals.

Hybrid working isn’t going anywhere.

If anything, it’s becoming the default model for many organisations. This shift is definitely not bad. But the responsibility weighs on companies to become more intentional about protecting structured downtime.

Supporting healthier lunch habits doesn’t require forcing employees offline or implementing rigid schedules. Often, it’s about making breaks easier to take.

When employees can pre-order meals and collect them quickly, they are far more likely to:

• step fully away from their desks
• use their full break allowance
• return to work mentally refreshed
• maintain sustainable productivity throughout the day

And this is something that should be available to employees, whether they work from home or the office. Every individual should have access to systems that encourage them to take meaningful breaks in the workday.

For employers, this isn’t just a wellbeing initiative. It’s a performance strategy.

The modern workplace has invested heavily in collaboration technology, flexible policies, and employee wellbeing programmes. Yet one of the most impactful daily performance drivers is often overlooked.

Lunch breaks are one of the few guaranteed opportunities employees have to reset during the working day. When they disappear, so does a key part of sustainable productivity.

Hybrid work changed where teams work. It shouldn’t change how they rest.

Organisations that recognise the value of protected, accessible lunch breaks will be better positioned to support both employee wellbeing and long-term performance.