LinkedIn’s annual “Big Ideas” that will change our world forecast of workplace trends is a window into tomorrow’s office. In 2025, we can expect to see AI reshaping corporate workflows, corporate influencers emerging and millennial CEOs ushering in a new era of workplace culture. By comparison, the resurgence of office lunches in the era of in-office returns is a modest but critical proposal on the list.
The return to the workplace has been bumpy. Dell tried to play chicken with its employees last year and discovered that a sizable portion of its workforce would rather work remotely than move up the corporate ladder. Business Insider also reported that AT&T didn’t have enough desks, parking or elevators for its returning employees.
Workplace sociologist Tracy Brower, Ph.D., says that an office lunch can play a vital role in smoothing out these missteps as companies scramble to recreate the sense of community lost during remote work. “One of the things we know about why people want to come to the office is they want the socialization,” she says. It’s one of the many reasons companies are pushing to return to the office.
Why office lunches matter
“Proximity is a significant driver of our relationships and our satisfaction with work,” Brower explains. “We tend to perceive more proximity when we have more regular communication.” And when people have better relationships with their coworkers, the more satisfied with work they tend to be, so maintaining active communication channels beyond scheduled meetings matters. Office lunch is “one more element that will attract people back,” Brower says.
However, the workplace has shifted since most of the workforce was in office five days a week. As organizations navigate the post-pandemic landscape and the emergence of Gen Z’s desire for better culture and boundaries, ordering pizza and calling it workplace culture won’t cut it.
Going beyond free pizza
One of LinkedIn’s most popular posts about workplace culture—posted by careers influencer Reno Perry—specifically calls out empty gestures like free pizza, swag and happy hours as being out of line with basics like respect, fair pay and time off, all of which have a bigger impact on culture. At the time of publication, the post had over 26,000 likes and was shared 3,000 times.
Perry’s post is not an isolated idea. Creators like Corporate Natalie and Laura Whaley rose to popularity on social media during the pandemic by spoofing corporate culture—and they both built significant followings on LinkedIn in 2024 as the platform experimented with video.
As a career and leadership coach, my best-performing LinkedIn posts are about bad bosses and unfair treatment in the workplace. Every day, I have people in my inbox who are burnt out and looking for a better work environment.
Brower stresses that lunches won’t work as a Band-Aid solution to systemic culture issues. “It’s not enough to just once in a while give people free pizza and think that you’re going to fix your corporate culture,” she says. Random pizza parties or quarterly catered events won’t create the community employees seek. Instead, organizations need a more thoughtful approach. Intentional lunches are one part of that.
Building better office lunch programs
A successful office lunch requires a clear goal and commitment to having lunch as a part of a larger company-building strategy. Lunch, for example, can help pandemic hires integrate into the broader organization. Brower says that for companies with lots of new employees who still haven’t necessarily met each other over the last few years, building lunches around experiences and introducing new employees to the culture is smart. Relatedly, research suggests shared meals increase social bonding and community connection, something traditional team-building exercises may not do as effectively.
For office lunches to be successful, participation at every level is needed. When leaders pause for lunch, it can “send a really positive message about the fact that you actually can take lunch,” Brower says. “We need to see leaders modeling that behavior.” And when executives and managers make time for team lunches, it signals their commitment to the organizational culture. “People love [to] have access to leaders, and so you can do a leader lunch or an executive lunch,” Brower adds. Lunch can be a time-efficient way to help employees get more face time with leadership.
Combine meals and activities
Brower suggests combining meals with other activities to deepen their impact. “Do a ‘hole-in-one contest’ with the IT department, or you do a chili cookoff in the fall with the finance department,” she says. These shared events that allow teams to bond while eating create natural conversation starters and break down departmental silos that often form in larger organizations.
As companies navigate the return to office in 2025, the success of team lunches will depend on how well organizations integrate these gatherings into their broader cultural strategy. “Lunches are a brilliant tactic,” Brower says, “but they’ve got to ladder up to strategy that has everything to do with a truly meaningful experience and a truly meaningful and constructive culture.”
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