In the same way that a house can reveal a lot of details about its owners, the workplace can give us a good understanding of its employees. One of the clearest indicators? The break room. This space is meant to help people recharge their batteries and maybe even build camaraderie, but not every business gets it right. In fact, some get it very, very wrong. From rusty vending machines stocked with expired snacks to sad folding chairs that look so uncomfortable, here's a roundup of the worst offenders. They can say anything they want about their company's culture, but the grim reality isn't fooling anyone.
#1 The Break Room At Work
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#2 I Work At A Mall. This Is Our Break Room In The Basement Of The Mall
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Companies might neglect break rooms not just because they lack the funds to design them, but also because they don't believe these spaces will increase earnings.
However, the 2024 Mercer Global Talent Trend Report, which analyzed the habits of more than 12,000 global participants, found that 82% of the workforce is at risk of burnout, citing excessive workload, exhaustion, and financial strain as the main culprits.
And if they do, everyone loses.
#3 I Got Transferred To A New Location At Work. This Is My New Break "Room"
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#4 We Still Posting Break Rooms?
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#5 W Break Room
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However, Jennifer Moss, who is a workplace expert, international public speaker, and author of Unlocking Happiness at Work, agrees that an unhealthy compulsion to be productive at all times, often at the expense of our mental and physical well-being, relationships, and overall quality of life, is a common sentiment in today’s work culture, where never-ending drive is celebrated, if not expected.
#6 I Work At A Multi Million Dollar Corporation And This Is Our Break Room Table
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#7 "Break Room"
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#8 The Office Break Room
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"Toxic productivity is multifaceted and stems from a complex mix of psychological and societal factors," Moss writes.
"Productivity norms are deeply embedded in our psyches from growing up in environments that equate arduous work with virtue, and rest with laziness."
"This belief is further reinforced by a culture that encourages perfectionism, where individuals feel that their self-worth is tied to their achievements," she adds.
#9 The “Break Room” At My Work
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#10 Go Backs And Go Backs And Go Backs. They’ve Been In The Break Room For Over A Week
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#11 Break Room. A Table And 2 Chairs You Can Sit On. Except When The Room Is Filled With Buns
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#12 Are We Still Posting "Break Rooms"?
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Social media amplifies the pressure of toxic productivity even further by fostering a constant sense of competition. Research shows that upward social comparisons are linked to low self-esteem and depression, with women affected the most.
"What's more, the rise of ... [AI] is further skewing our ideas about productivity. I ask you this: If gen AI is here to save us time in minutes and hours, then how will we measure productivity?" Moss says. "If someone is done with their work early because of AI, shouldn't that be rewarded? Toxic productivity will never end — and may even get worse — unless we start measuring goals achieved, not hours worked."
#13 Break Room
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#14 Show Me Your Breakroom
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#15 Breakroom
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#16 Hotel Maid’s Break-Room
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According to Expedia's survey of 11,500 employees from all over the world, 62% of global workers don't feel they have enough time off or breaks.
And this belief is often manufactured by our surroundings. The 2024 PTO Report by fintech firm Sorbet discovered there's persistent underutilization of vacation time, with employees taking around 10 days in 2023, and Pew research has shown that 49% of people who don't take their full PTO say they worry about falling behind, 43% say they would feel badly about coworkers taking on extra work, and 19% worry that taking time off might hurt their chances of getting a promotion.
#17 Chilling Break Room
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#18 It Is Really Small 2 People Can Sit Side By Side. It's Always Full Of People's Stuff, So I Don't Sit In There On Break
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#19 Who Needs A Breakroom?
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#20 Walgreens Break Room
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A company's culture is established at the top, and "leaders play a crucial role in either perpetuating or breaking the cycle of toxic productivity," Moss says.
"Unfortunately, many leaders model the very behaviors that contribute to this unhealthy culture — sending emails late at night, forgoing time off, and glorifying overwork."
#21 Turned The Light On In The Break Room.... I Hate That Thing
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#22 Breaktime!
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#23 Update With Pic Of Break Room….. Yea I Don’t Know How Long I’m Staying Here. LOL
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#24 Empty Breakroom
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For a healthier work environment to become mainstream, she believes leaders need to actively model healthy work habits themselves. This includes taking a vacation and sharing it openly — a new trend called "loud vacationing" — so employees feel like taking PTO is encouraged, and, of course, redoing these terrible break rooms so that everyone feels like they are welcome to relax, not trapped in a fluorescent-lit corporate jungle.
#25 The Break Room
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#26 Break Room
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#27 Break Room Before Remodel
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#28 Entire Break Room For A Place That Has 100+ People Working Everyday
Just started this job end of March. I work in a restaurant as a chef and I counted how many people work in back of house and front of house for a busy day, and it is 121 people. To be fair, the shifts range from 5am to 3am, but still, these 3 chairs are pitiful, they are always taken, have no back support, and when you sit on them you can't fit your legs under the table. Not to mention the tiny table space. It is encouraged to not take a break at all for a 8 to 10 hour shift and if you do, these seats are always taken so you are forced to sit on the concrete outside near the garbage bins ( we have to park far away up the road so that the shared parking lot is avaliable for customers, so sitting in our car is not an option) behind these chairs is a hallway with a bunch more cubbies to put your bag, water bottle, ect. But no room other than to walk. Crazy to me that a high end restaurant has 3 uncomfortable seats in their tiny "break room" I crossed out the whiteboard so you can't see any private info.
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#29 There Is A Particle Accelerator In My Break Room
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#30 A Lot Of People Posting Photos Of Their Break Rooms. Here's Ours
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#31 The Window-Less 'Quiet Room' In My Workplace
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#32 Our Break Room
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#33 My Office Break Room Is Styled Like The Inside Of An Airplane For Some Reason
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#34 Abandoned Breakroom At My Workplace
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#35 Our Break Room At Work (Community Mental Health Agency- Satellite Office)
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#36 Break Room Purgatory, Between Realities
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#37 No Table
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#38 I Found The Forever Alone Chair In My Workplace's Break Room
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#39 A Simple Empty Break Room
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#40 Break Room At Work
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#41 Right Justified Break Room
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#42 Break Room
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#43 Any Other Walmarts Doing Some Dumb **p In Their Break Rooms
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#44 Surprisingly It’s Clean Today Because Usually It’s A Mess With Old Crew’s Break Food Everywhere
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#45 When There's A Party In The Break Room At Work And You Work 3rd Shift
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#46 The Breakrooms
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#47 Makeshift Breakroom In Receiving While They Remodel
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#48 Break Room
Anyone else’s break room look like this? No one cleans up their mess.
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#49 I Work Theatrical Shows & Concerts...
Right now I'm working a run of Hamilton & on my break the other day, I was looking around our crew room wondering what will happen when we run out of room in there for shows to put their tags. I'm hoping tags start to flow out into the main hallways.
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#50 Hospital Breakroom
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#51 The Breakroom
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#52 A Simple Breakroom. Too Simple
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#53 Break Room In A SC Hospital
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#54 This Is My Current Hd Break Room. If You're Thirsty Good Luck. If Your Hungry, Too Bad
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#55 Creepiest Breakroom Ever
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#56 Some Photos That I Snuck Of The Break Room In The Amazon Building I Work At. It Looks Like A Prison And Feels Like One Too
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#57 2023 Breakroom Refresh
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#58 Break Room At An Abandoned Beet Factory
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#59 I Can Still Hear The Quiet Buzz Of The Light
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#60 Break Room
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