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Tackling high turnover rates, increasing employee retention, keeping a productive, healthy, and satisfied workface are the main challenges that companies are faced with today. One simple, yet effective strategy that companies seeking to attract and retain employees use is offering free snacks in the office. Learn more about why employers choose to provide office snacks with these statistics.
Popularity of Snacks Offered
- Among those employees who have food-based perks, 48% consume office provided snacks or beverages up to four times per week, 29% do so once a day or more (Planadviser, 2015)
- Companies that provide free snacks are on the rise (32%) and most companies already offer free coffee (81%) (SHRM, 2018)
- The most popular office snack is bananas (HFCU, 2015)
Office Snacks & Employee Retention
- 66% of millennials said if they were offered a job at a company with better perks like snacks, they would take it (Leanbox)
- 48% of respondents would weight company perks if they were looking for a new job (Leanbox)
- 67% of employers say that food is part of their employee retention strategy (Zerocater, 2018)
- Free food increases employee retention, 41% say they would not accept a job offer to a company without food-perks if their current employer provides them (Food in the Workplace, 2014)
- 88% of employees consider it important for their employer to provide snacks (Zerocater, 2018)
How Employees Value Office Snacks
- 56% of employees say that without an afternoon snack they hit a no-energy slump (HFCU, 2015)
- Food is the second most desired perk, gym and yoga membership came in first place (Food in the Workplace, 2014)
- Healthy snacks are considered a “huge perk” by 83% of respondents (Planadviser, 2015)
- Access to free food in the office increased employee happiness by 11% (Hoppier, 2019)
- Millennials are three times more likely to value free snacks than those 45 and over (Leanbox)
- 61% of employees said that free snacks saved them money throughout the work week (Hoppier, 2019)
Office Snack Value for Business
- One in two employees say that food-based perks make them feel more satisfied with their employers (Food in the Workplace, 2014)
- Workers who are satisfied with their perks such as free food, have a 37% increase in achieving sales targets (SnackNation, 2015)
- 57% of employees say that food-based perks make them feel more valued and appreciated by their employers (Food in the Workplace, 2014)
- 2.4 billion hours were lost in productivity due to employees going out to buy coffee and snacks (Forbes, 2011)
- 88% of employers say that office food saves their employees time by not having to go out and get it themselves (Zerocater, 2018)
- Two out of three respondents reported being extremely happy or very happy with their workplace if snacks were available (Planadviser, 2015)
For any employer considering adding snacks to the office, there are many snack services to choose from that you can choose from.
Written by shortlister editorial team
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