Blog » Coffee At Work » Coffee breaks cost us $11.4 billion a year, but only a mug would say no...

EMPLOYERS have a reason to discourage their workers from ducking out for a coffee, with new ABS figures showing it costs Australian businesses $11.4 billion a year in a loss of productivity.

A staggering 63 per cent of the state's workers drink an average of 1.02 cups of takeaway coffee each day, taking about 15 minutes per break, according to new research.

But while businesses' bottom lines might be depleted, the good news for workers is there might be a valid excuse in taking a coffee break.

The study of 1200 office workers conducted by Australian coffee company Republica found that workers felt short coffee breaks benefited their employer and 86 per cent of those surveyed experienced a caffeine-fuelled increase in productivity.

Bondi friends Katy Gutman, 24, and Stephanie Mann, 25, said they were definitely more alert after a coffee.

"I'm more focussed on what I'm doing, working more efficiently and getting things done quicker, especially when the four o'clock drag hits," Ms Gutman said.

Ms Gutman, who works at a winery and Ms Mann, a photographer, said they drank more coffee when they were working.

Friday sickies costing us too

Both said they drank no more than one cup on a day off, but knocked back up to three cups when working.

The coffee hits served to boost their concentration and was a chance to get out of the office, they said.

"It's important to have that break, and for me it's half the caffeine and half just the enjoyment, it's a mental thing," Ms Mann said.

Positivity Institute psychologist Dr Suzy Green said the short time away from the desk for a coffee break was crucial for workers to revitalise.

"It is absolutely crucial in terms of work, wellbeing and productivity," she said.

"And for organisations who want to pursue employees being more productive at work, wellbeing is correlated with productivity.

"While some bosses might not share her view, Dr Green said letting staff take coffee breaks may see workers coming up with their best ideas.

"Downtime is when creative ideas come to people," she said.

"And downtime from micro-breaks have an added benefit of a coffee burst, which increases attention."