440 Euros Monthly in Office Food: The Cost of Low-Productivity Jobs

440 Euros Monthly in Office Food: The Cost of Low-Productivity Jobs

Thousands of office employees spend between 15 and 20 euros daily on breakfasts, coffees, snacks, and meals out. This figure, annualized, exceeds 5,000 euros, raising questions about both personal spending management and the real value of many corporate positions. The phenomenon, popularized by videos from young professionals showing their daily office routine, has peine the debate on productivity and the threat of automation.

The Office Grocery Bill

The calculation is devastating: 20 euros per day, 22 days a month, equals 440 euros. Adding weekends and dinners out, the monthly food bill rises to nearly 900 euros, according to analysts. In cities like Barcelona, where average rent is around 900 euros, the net salary of an office employee (estimated at 24,000 euros gross annually) would be practically absorbed by housing and food, leaving only 300 euros for leisure and savings. The question arises: how much of this spending is necessary, and how much is pure aspirational ritual?

Work That Produces Nothing

Anthropologist David Graeber estimated that 40% of office jobs are 'bullshit jobs': work that the occupants themselves consider useless. The difference is that these are now recorded on TikTok. The videos show long eating breaks, multiple coffees, and office tours that hardly add up to a productive day. It is not that these people are lazy; it is that many administrative tasks have a value close to zero. Managing repetitive procedures, meetings without agendas, and reports no one reads are the norm in many companies.

AI Is Already Knocking

The argument that artificial intelligence will eliminate these positions gains strength. AI agents do not need coffee breaks, do not eat, and do not take sick leave. Where five people currently manage 800 procedures a year, an algorithm can do it in minutes. The first waves of replacement are affecting remote workers and data-based roles. Those who only make minor decisions or act as intermediaries between departments will see their roles threatened. The irony is that when they disappear, no one will notice the difference in real production.

The Consumption Dilemma

But there is a trap. The current economy needs these low-productivity salaries to circulate to maintain consumption. If AI eliminates 400,000 office jobs, the money they spent on cafes, restaurants, and rent will evaporate. The savings for the company will be the impoverishment of the neighborhood. It is not easy to reconcile efficiency with aggregate demand. Meanwhile, 'corpo girls' will continue eating 8-euro salads, perhaps unaware that their own job existence hangs by an algorithmic thread.