Interested in more careers-related content? Check out our new weekly Work Life newsletter . Sent every Monday afternoon.

Free pizza was often seen by bosses as a useful way to reward staff. Then came the memes, which carried an underlying tone of resentment from workers.

The online jokes take on many forms but the premise boils down to the idea that a few slices of pizza is an inadequate reward for a job well done, a poor substitute for better compensation and are too often used to Band-Aid over a toxic culture.

The corporate pizza party has come to symbolize a patronizing attempt at low-cost employee recognition. In some cases, it could backfire, reinforcing negative feelings about workplace culture.

“A team is burnt-out, they might be understaffed, they’re hitting impossible de

See Full Page