Survey Shows Employees Prefer Lunch with a Colleague but More Often Eat Solo

The “lunch bunch” isn’t a reality for most workers, a new survey from Accountemps suggests. When asked how they spend their lunch hour, nearly half (49 percent) of accounting and finance professionals said they typically spend it eating alone. Yet almost as many (46 percent) people said they would rather have a coworker join them for the meal.

What else are professionals craving at lunchtime? Thirty-seven percent of those interviewed said they would like to exercise on their lunch break, but only 10 percent actually do. Survey respondents more frequently run errands (33 percent), check personal email (28 percent) and surf the Internet (24 percent) during their break.

View an infographic of the survey findings.

Accounting and finance professionals were asked, “What do you typically do during your lunch break?” and “What would you like to do on your lunch break?” Their responses*:

	What Respondents Do	What They Would Like to Do
Enjoy a meal by myself	49%	32%
Enjoy a meal with my coworkers	37%	46%
Run errands	33%	30%
Review my personal email	28%	20%
Peruse the Internet	24%	19%
Check out my social media networks	15%	12%
Exercise or go to the gym	10%	37%
Take a nap	3%	13%
*Multiple responses allowed.

“Even with demanding workloads, employees should try to step away from their desks during the workday,” said Bill Driscoll, a district president of Accountemps. “Sharing a meal with coworkers not only strengthens business relationships, but creates a more relaxed environment for collaboration and the exchange of ideas.”

Added Driscoll, “The simple act of taking a break – even for a few minutes – can help clear your mind and broaden your perspective, especially when facing challenging business problems.”