Let's Do Lunch -- Quickly!

It makes sense. Fewer people. More work. Less lunch. A recent study by OfficeTeam, a Menlo Park, Calif., staffing services company, shows that the average time spent on lunch is 42 minutes, well under the traditional hour for the workplace. Close to one-third of respondents said their lunch breaks are shorter compared with three years ago. The study was conducted independent of OfficeTeam and includes responses from 150 executives from the U.S.' largest companies. Sixty-six percent of respondents said there has been no change in the length of their lunch breaks compared with three years ago, but 23% and 8% said the breaks were "somewhat shorter" and "significantly shorter" (respectively) compared with three years ago. Three percent said the breaks are longer. Liz Hughes, vice president of OfficeTeam, warns against skipping lunch on a regular basis because it can quickly lead to burnout.