Top 10 'most irritating' office habits confirmed by scientists – read full list

31 October 2023 , 16:05

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A website offering bespoke furniture of offices, quizzed 2,000 office employees to find the "most annoying" behaviours at Britain's workplaces (Image: Getty Images/Westend61)

A new study has revealed the "most irritating" habits of our work colleagues - with going barefoot, chewing loudly and eating smelly food among the top gripes recorded by employees at their place of work.

Researchers at Furniture At Work, a website offering bespoke furniture of offices, quizzed 2,000 office employees to find the "most annoying" behaviours at Britain's workplaces - with 30% of respondents highlighting stealing food and drink from the communal fridge as the top sinful office faux pas. Other work bugbears included 21% of those surveyed complaining about heating up stinky food - like fish or curries - in the office microwave, typing 'loudly' and taking your shoes off in the middle of the workplace.

Microwaving smelly foods at work is sure to drive your colleagues crazy, according to a new survey (Getty Images)

Other annoying habits banished to the list include encroaching on colleagues' desks, tapping your feet and hands and talking loudly on speakerphone.

The top 10 most irritating work habits - in order of annoyance, and with some folk choosing more than just one - in the study by were found to be as follows:

1. Pinching food or drink from the fridge - 30%
2. Microwaving smelly food like curries or fish - 21%
3. Talking loudly on phone speaker - 18%
4. Chewing loudly - 15%
5. Desk encroachment - 13%
6. Listening to loud music - 12%
7. Opening windows/turning on the air con without asking - 11%
8. Typing loudly - 8%
9. Tapping feet or hands constantly - 4%
10. Taking your shoes off/going barefoot - 3%

In one example of extreme measures to combat the scourge of barefoot employees, Tina Wallace, 29, said she ended up scattering drawing pins around her office to stop a colleague taking off their shoes. The clothes designer, from Watford, Hertfordshire, said: "Every morning this guy would come into the office and the first thing he did was take off his shoes.

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"Sometimes he'd leave he socks on, but other times he'd walk around barefoot." She added: "I wouldn't really mind, but his feet absolutely stank the place out."

Tina said he only stopped after she and her colleagues started leaving drawing pins scattered around the office floor. She continued: "He soon put his shoes back on after stepping on a drawing pin for the fifth time."

Other annoying habits banished to the list include encroaching on colleagues' desks, tapping your feet and hands and talking loudly on speakerphone (Getty Images)

Gregory Moore, 40, of Hastings, East Sussex, said he used to sit next to someone who typed so loudly it sounded "like a machine gun". The surveyor said: "I once sat next to this guy who would hit the keys so hard it sounded like a machine gun going off. "It was genuinely loud - and very, very annoying."

Speaking of the new survey, a spokesman for Furniture At Work said: "Our study found that the number one bugbear was stealing other people's food from the fridge. "Not far behind was those who stink out the office by microwaving smelly food - and in 10th spot was those who think it's OK to air their smelly feet."

Joseph Gamp