Office workers aren’t making the most of breaks

Office workers are not making the most of their breaks at work, with working environments and employers preventing them from taking a break.

A study conducted by One Poll on behalf of Nestle Professional, found that 13 per cent of workers fail to take a break during an average working day with 19 per cent only taking time out for lunch.

Despite this, 97 per cent revealed that taking a break during the working day would make them feel more positive and organised.

In addition, 73 per cent cited that having a break makes them feel better about handling their workload and solving problems.

“As office workers, it can too often be easy to get bogged down with seemingly never-ending to-do lists, hitting deadlines, back-to-back meetings or conference calls. However, our research indicates that taking just a few minutes out of the day to refresh and regroup could not only impact positively from an individual standpoint, but also for businesses themselves,” said Paul Lumley, brand and channel lead at Nestlé Professional.

“With more than one in five (21 per cent) respondents saying a varied selection of food and drink offered in or near their workplace is the most important factor to them when taking a break, businesses should consider the merits of having readily accessible refreshments for staff. This is an area we can particularly support in, with our range of coffee and confectionery brands available to help workplaces make the most of their break times.”

Meanwhile, when taking a break, more than a third of employees choose to take one that lasts between six to ten minutes on average. Plus, the most popular time during the day is between 10am to 11am and 3pm to 4pm, at 49 per cent and 36 per cent, respectively.