A video shared to X by @WallStreetApes showing a Costco employee filming her workplace breakroom has drawn attention for showing how the company charges the staff for food.
The unnamed employee walks through a breakroom stocked with snacks, drinks, pizza, and ice cream, none of it free, and buys items for herself during what appears to be a break.
"Costco employees say their breakroom is essentially a convenience store," the X account wrote in the caption accompanying the clip.
Costco employees say their breakdown is essentially a convenience store
— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) June 22, 2026
They have all kinds of snack and drink items, even things like pizza and ice creams. However, it’s not free and employees must pay for what they get
Costco is a $422 billion dollar company and does $269.9… pic.twitter.com/SteRPy6Buy
The employee, whose name and location were not identified in the post, films shelves and coolers carrying a range of products available for purchase.
The selection includes items Costco sells on its warehouse floor, as well as self-serve foods processed via automatic machines. She buys something during the video, treating the breakroom the way a customer would treat a corner store.
Some commenters pushed back on the criticism, defending the paid breakroom model. "Can you imagine the hoarding that would occur if those items were free?" One commenter wrote. "What would stop someone from having an accomplice blocking the door, while they box everything up and take it home as soon as the room was stocked?"
A separate commenter wrote, "I have never worked anywhere they give you free snacks."
The X account also questioned why Costco — a company with $422 billion in market value and $269.9 billion in annual sales — requires its employees to pay for food in their own breakroom.
One commenter drew a cultural comparison, writing, "Even in most restaurants, employees have to pay full price or at best get 50% off," the commenter wrote. "This is how the Abrahamic economics works — tight cost control and shrinkage rules everywhere. But in Indian restaurants, staff meals are free worldwide," they added.
One user saw this as a problem all blue collar employees faced. "It never ceases to amaze and anger me how poorly blue collar workers are treated by their employers," the commenter wrote.
Costco has not publicly addressed the video.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the specific breakroom policies described in this video or confirm that they apply across all Costco locations. The details above reflect the account as shared on X by @WallStreetApes.
