ezCater’s Fourth Annual Lunch Report Reveals Widespread “Hanger” Decreases Workplace Productivity

40% of Gen Z and millennial workers say their company’s culture makes it difficult to step away for a break to eat lunch

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ezCater, the #1 food tech platform for workplaces in the US, today released its fourth annual Lunch Report, revealing that 51% of employees skip lunch at least once a week. As a result, 84% of employees reported experiencing workplace “hanger” - irritability caused by hunger - and 88% said their performance suffers when they are hungry at work.

"Our data shows that hangry workers are bad for business: 43% take longer to complete tasks, 38% report being blunt with colleagues, and 25% avoid interacting with their peers,” said Robert Kaskel, VP of People, ezCater. “The best way for companies to avoid this and promote employee well-being is to create a culture where taking a break to have lunch is not only accepted, but encouraged. It will pay dividends in employee productivity, collaboration, and overall happiness.”

This year’s report, based on responses from 1,000 full-time US employees, uncovered key trends in employee lunch habits and the evolving role of lunch breaks in the workplace. Additional findings include:

• The cost of workplace “hanger” is steep: Nearly 9 out of 10 employees said that being hungry at work negatively affected their job performance, leading them to take longer to complete tasks (43%), make more mistakes (39%), and produce lower quality work (31%).
• The "working lunch" becomes the new normal: 63% of employees report eating during in-person meetings. This shift has created changing workplace expectations, with 82% of employees expecting to be able to eat during midday meetings, and 31% expecting their employer to provide lunch if meetings are scheduled over their lunch break.
• Gen Z's lunch break is filled with guilt: 94% of workers agree that a lunch break boosts their performance, but many are not taking the time to eat. Gen Z is more than twice as likely than older colleagues to believe their employer will look unfavorably on them for taking a lunch break. This causes them to skip lunch more often — they are 35% more likely than older generations to do so — despite feeling happier (56%) and less burned out (49%) after a break.
• Catered lunch is more valuable than ever: 74% of workers say inflation has changed their lunch habits and nearly 1 in 5 (17%) report intentionally skipping meals to save money, making a catered lunch even more valuable for today’s workforce. A growing number of workers are leveraging discounts and value menus (up 18% YoY) or opting for smaller portions (up 20% YoY) to manage costs.

“When your youngest employees feel guilty about taking their lunch break, it’s a big red flag. Pair this lunch guilt with employees' tendency to skip lunch for short-term productivity gains and business leaders have a performance and burnout issue on their hands,” Kaskel added. “Bringing in lunch for employees, instituting an organization-wide lunch break, and encouraging leadership to eat lunch in open spaces can send a clear message that lunch should be part of everyone’s workday.”

The full findings from ezCater's fourth annual Lunch Report can be found here. To learn more about how workplaces can use these insights to increase employee productivity and happiness, visit www.ezcater.com.

Methodology
These are the results of an online survey conducted in June 2025 among 1,000 full-time US employees who work in either a business office (on-site or hybrid), retail/grocery/warehouse setting, in hospitality, or a healthcare setting.

About ezCater
ezCater is the #1 food tech platform for workplaces in the US. The company makes it easy for any organization to manage its food needs and order from over 100,000 restaurants nationwide. For workplaces, ezCater provides flexible and scalable solutions for everything from recurring employee meals to one-off meetings, all backed by beyond helpful 24/7 service and business-grade reliability. For restaurant partners, ezCater helps grow their business by bringing them more orders and new high-value customers. To learn more, visit www.ezcater.com.