Getting a laugh is your new job—and these work jokes make it easy
71 Work Jokes That Will Make You a Star at the Watercooler
Updated on Jun. 26, 2025
Funniest work jokes
- What do you call a PowerPoint presentation about cannibals?
A Hannibal lecture.
- Why do birds sing in the morning?
Because they don’t have to go to the office.
- What do you get when you photocopy strawberries?
A paper jam.
- Why are printers so musical?
Because the paper is always jamming.
- Why did the banana call in sick?
It wasn’t peeling well.
- What can really ruin a Friday?
Realizing it’s only Monday.
- Why did the teddy bear skip the work luncheon?
He was already stuffed.
- What does RuPaul’s boss say when he gets to the office?
“You better werk!”
- Why is work like a broken pencil?
It’s pointless.
- Did you hear the joke about printer paper?
Never mind—it’s tearable.
- What do you call a PowerPoint presentation about the importance of staying hydrated?
Water slides.
- Why did the ghost send subject-only emails?
Because he had no body to speak of.
- How did the ant send an email?
Reply small.
- How did the bartender send an email?
Reply ale.
- Why is work like peaches?
It’s the pits.
Work-friendly jokes
- Why don’t they make computers out of wood?
It’s too hard to log in.
- Why did Old MacDonald hire a new executive to run his farm?
He needed a new CIEIO.
- Why did the HR manager bring a ladder to work?
Because everyone keeps saying they want to “climb the corporate ladder,” and she’s tired of explaining it’s just a metaphor.
- Why do printers go to the gym?
To get toner.
- What are the perks of working in a keyboard factory?
There’s always plenty of extra shifts.
- Did you hear the joke about Ikea office furniture?
It’s OK, but it kind of falls apart in the end.
- How many paper clips come in a box?
All of them!
- What do you call a factory that makes “good enough” products?
A satis-factory.
- Why couldn’t the keyboard take off its hat?
It had caps lock on.
- What gets burning hot right before it freezes?
A laptop.
- What did one unsent email say to the other?
“Does it feel a little drafty in here?”
- How does a printer get its hair cut?
With paper clips.
- Why did the PowerPoint presentation cross the road?
To get to the other slide.
- What’s a copy machine’s least favorite kind of music?
Paper jams.
- Where do dads store their jokes?
In a dad-abase.
- Did you hear the joke someone made on Zoom today?
It wasn’t even remotely funny.
Punny work one-liners
- The IT department told me to clear my cookies, so I ate a whole package of Oreos.
- I asked a Magic 8 Ball what email program I should use. It said: “Outlook not good.”
- I’m giving this project 110% effort, which means I’m bad at math.
- My boss told me to have a good day, so I left and went to the beach.
- My boss told me I needed to be more flexible, so I sat in lotus position.
- I put “excellent communication skills” on my résumé. The interviewer asked me to elaborate. I said no.
- My résumé has more gaps than the Grand Canyon.
- I’m not just good at PowerPoint—I Excel at it.
- My boss told me I’d missed too much work lately. I told him I hadn’t missed it much.
- “My greatest weakness? Honesty.” The interviewer said, “I don’t think honesty is a weakness.” I replied, “I don’t care what you think.”
- My morning commute is three steps from my bed to my desk, but somehow I still manage to be running late and blame traffic.
- I used to love doughnuts at work, but after a while the hole thing got boring.
- I talk to myself sometimes just to get some expert advice.
- I need to read this book on procrastination, but I keep putting it off.
- I’m giving a presentation on sticky notes—it should be easy to pull off.
Employee jokes
- What did the employee say when they were caught at the beach?
“I’m multi-basking!”
- How does the submarine captain communicate at work?
He pings his boss.
- How do employees at the Gap offices communicate?
On Slacks.
- What did the unproductive employee say at work?
“I’m not lazy—I’m Slacking!”
- Why did the employee put a glass of apple juice on top of her laptop whenever she closed it?
Cider-security.
- Why did the employee ask to go to Alaska?
He wanted to work from Nome.
- Why was the employee fired from the juice factory?
He couldn’t concentrate.
- Why was the employee fired from the clock factory?
He wasn’t putting in enough hours.
- Why did the employee put glasses on his computer?
To improve his web sight.
- Why was the employee fired from the scissors factory?
She was always cutting corners.
- Who volunteered to speak up in the meeting: rock, paper or scissors?
Rock, because it was a little boulder.
- Why did the employee at the calendar factory get fired?
She kept taking days off.
- What do skeletons put in their photocopiers?
Skeletoner.
- What do you call a Jedi who knows Photoshop?
Adobe-Wan Kenobi.
- Why are elevator jokes always so good?
They work on many levels.
- Why was the frog late to work?
His car got toad.
- How do bees get to work?
They take the buzz.
- Why did the employee steal a chair from the meeting?
Her boss told her to take a seat.
Office knock-knock jokes
- Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Lettuce.
Lettuce who?
Lettuce get outta this office and go to lunch!
- Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Weekend.
Weekend who?
Weekend do this all day, but it’s 5 p.m. and I’m going home!
- Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Overtime.
Overtime who?
Overtime I try to leave, my boss gives me more work!
- Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Zoom.
Zoom who?
Zoom out a bit. I can only see your forehead!
- Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Harry.
Harry who?
Harry up—the meeting started already!
- Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Meeting.
Meeting who?
Meeting you here seems easier than scheduling through Outlook.
- Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Excel.
Excel who?
Excel-lent question. Can you help me with this spreadsheet?
Why trust us
Reader’s Digest has been telling jokes for more than 100 years, curated and reviewed over the last 20 years by Senior Features Editor Andy Simmons, a humor editor formerly of National Lampoon and the author of Now That’s Funny. We’ve earned prestigious ASME awards for our humor—including comical quips, pranks, puns, cartoons, one-liners, knock-knock jokes, riddles, memes, tweets and stories in laugh-out-loud magazine columns such as “Life in These United States,” “All in a Day’s Work,” “Laughter, the Best Medicine” and “Humor in Uniform,” as well as online collections such as short jokes, dad jokes and bad jokes so bad, they’re great. You can find a century of humor in our 2022 compendium, Reader’s Digest: Laughter, the Best Medicine. For this piece on work jokes, Laura Beck tapped her 15-plus years of experience as a professional humor writer for TV shows and magazines. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
