Workers are paying less for lunch. Researchers say more than half of employed people are responding to inflation by skipping meals, rather than a sign of relief from soaring food prices.
According to ezCater’s Lunch Report, in 2026, 54% of full-time U.S.-based employees will miss lunch at work at least once a week. Researchers surveyed 1,000 U.S.-based employees, and their results had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Robert Kaskel, vice president of human resources at ezCater, told CNBC Make It that the percentage of workers skipping meals has increased for the past four consecutive years. In 2023, the first year ezCater conducted the survey, 48% of workers reported skipping one meal a week at work.
The majority of respondents (81%) said their eating habits at work have changed due to inflation and they are responding to rising food prices in different ways. To cut costs, some people shop less often, rely on cheaper options, take advantage of discounts and loyalty programs, strictly follow a budget, prepare meals, or get food at work.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, experts predict that the consumer price index for out-of-home groceries will rise 3.5% in 2026, on par with the average of the past 20 years. The Eating Out Consumer Price Index is expected to rise 2.4% in 2026, slower than the average of the past 20 years. Inflation is expected to be well below its 2022 high, but consumers are still feeling the pressure of inflation on their wallets.
Despite inflation, employees spent less on food in 2026 than in 2025. Employees spent an average of $100.23 per week on lunch at work, including groceries and ordered food, in 2026. According to the ezCater report, this number will decrease by 8% from 2025. Kaskel says this is “evidence” that inflation is having an impact on lunch habits.
In addition to rising food costs, employees are also facing tougher working conditions, with 31% of employees saying it’s becoming harder to leave their desks to take a proper lunch break. Others report company culture, time constraints, and expectations from meetings and managers as reasons for not eating at their desk or having lunch together.
“There’s a sense that we all need to be connected and connected 24/7,” says Samantha Bachman, a clinical psychologist at New York University Langone College. “I think these stressors are probably having a big impact on people’s ability to make healthy choices at this time.”
Younger generations feel the most pressure to be available during work hours. Gen Z and Millennials are more than twice as likely as their older colleagues to feel pressured by their boss to skip lunch.
Bachmann points out that a low-employment, low-employment job market can put additional pressure on young workers to perform well on the job.
“It’s not so easy to find a job these days because you work with young people,” Bachman says. “Maybe it’s more of a feeling of, ‘Okay, I’ve got the job. I need to stay in this job, impress my boss, and do my best to perform at my best.'”
Still, workers value their lunch time. Kaskel said 35% of employees would choose a protected daily lunch break over additional paid time off. “This shows how important it is to have protected meal times in the workplace, preferably in a supportive environment, and how valuable that is to people.”
The report also points to some negative side effects of fewer lunch breaks for employees. First, skipping lunch reduces your chances of socializing at the office. More than half of employees prefer to eat with others, but only 36% of employees eat away from their desks every weekday.
“I think humans are social animals and we’re not really wired to eat alone. I know that’s kind of the norm for most of us in modern society, but it’s actually our natural state to eat with other people,” Bachmann says of anthropological eating habits.
Workers also report that hunger hurts productivity. The majority of workers (84%) say their performance suffers when they’re hungry.
“If you’re not eating, you’re not getting calories and nutrients. Your brain doesn’t function well because it needs calories to function well,” Bachmann added.
Researchers, including ezCater, say companies should reconsider their investment, or lack thereof, in employee meals.
Free lunches could get more employees into the office, but it’s a huge struggle for companies in the post-pandemic era, an ezCater study found. Despite employers having longer commutes, nearly 7 in 10 Zoomers and Millennials say they come to the office at least three times a week to eat a free catered lunch. When it comes to Gen Xers and baby boomers, 45% feel the same way.
“We also heard from, and believe, our study participants that catered lunches are a valuable benefit that employers can offer, and we feel this is an opportunity for employers to earn commuting money,” Kaskel says.
