By Samantha Schoech and Mari Uyehara
Friends are the family you choose, or so the platitude goes. It follows, then, that co-workers are the family chosen for you by the mysterious forces of capitalism. After all, you spend most of your waking hours with them, so many turn into deep out-of-office relationships that endure long after.
So, whether your colleagues are in-person teammates, Slack or Microsoft Teams confidants, or an admirable mentor-manager, you can show them they’re more than just “work friends” with a thoughtful gesture. The gifts below will brighten a workday or workspace. They include excellent Swedish candies, Lego flowers, and cozy slippers.
Looking for more work-appropriate gifts? Check out our white elephant finds, best ideas for people who work from home, and favorite food gift baskets.
Time out
This shapely, modern sandglass comes in five lovely hues and times five minutes.
Maybe your co-worker is a new acolyte of the Pomodoro technique (cycles of 25 minutes of focused work followed by a five-minute break), or they’re just looking to decrease their reliance on digital devices. In either case, the Hightide Medium Hourglass — which times five minutes the old-fashioned way, with sand funneled through its center, would be a cool little addition to any workspace, especially one with copious sunlight. The hourglass comes in five colors, including amber, turquoise, and blue, and it also comes in four other sizes with corresponding times, including large (15 minutes) and extra large (30 minutes).
Getting ahead
Executive coach Melody Wilding delineates the oft-repeated but vague career advice into 10 conversations, including ones on visibility, alignment, and money.
If your co-worker can’t spend a lunch break or Slack aside without kvetching about the boss, then Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge, by executive coach Melody Wilding, might be just what they need. Wilding dubs managing up as “strategically navigating relationships with those who have more positional power than you,” and she breaks down the concept into ten chapters of 10 conversations. The first chapter is called “The Alignment Conversation,” and it covers questions like, “Why am I spending so much energy trying to decipher cryptic feedback or mixed messages from my boss?” And she goes through several more, including styles, feedback, boundaries, advancement, and even how to exit on good terms.
Nice mug
These stackable, functional Japanese porcelain mugs nest for easy storage, and they come in a range of muted, coordinating tones.
Many Wirecutter staffers are devotees of the Hasami Porcelain Mug — a chic replacement for the unremarkable or punny novelty mugs on most office desks. Available in a range of earthy hues, this handmade, hand-glazed number is made with a proprietary mixture of clay and crushed stones from Amakusa, resulting in a uniquely organic texture. While Hasami has been making ceramics in the pottery-famous prefecture of Nagasaki for about 400 years, this mug has a few convenient modern qualities — it’s microwaveable, dishwasher-safe, and stackable.
Lunch savior
A beefy soy-sauce-and-bean-paste–based broth teams up with chewy noodles to create a hearty bowl with just a sizzle of spice.
Surprise the co-worker complaining about expensive lunches around the office with a pack of the A-Sha Meteor Noodles With Braised Beef Sauce. If their idea of instant noodles is limited to Maruchan or Top Ramen, this might just be a revelation. Our kitchen team tasted 45 varieties of instant noodles, and this Taiwanese-style beef noodle soup was one of their top picks. Flavored with star anise, chili oil, and bean paste, the beef broth has plenty of savory unctuousness, and the thick, dense noodles are satisfyingly chewy. Kitchen editor Marilyn Ong was “quite impressed” with it. “The flavor tastes very real,” she says. “There’s depth, and the spice gives it some lift. With some cilantro on top and some actual beef, this could be almost indistinguishable from what you’d get at a casual noodle shop.” The noodles (available in packs of four or 20) are easily stored in a desk drawer, for those days when there isn’t much time between meetings or when the mood hits for a good bowl of hot soup.
Forever flowers
A fun ode to spring, this lovely, 430-piece set sports sprays of pink and white flowers flecked with light green leaves. Constructing the two branches is an exercise in mindfulness. Plus, these flowers will never wilt.
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We love Lego botanicals for places that don’t get a lot of light or for people who tend to forget about things like watering. These poppy pink Lego Cherry Blossoms add sophisticated cheer to any desk or cubicle, and they require very little in return—maybe just occasional dusting. Plus, the 430 pieces are fun and relatively easy to put together.
Jargon generator
Twist this magnetic maple and steel fidget to create nearly endless corporate baloney. The final deliverable will ensure buy-in with stakeholders.
Let’s circle back to synergistically align action items. Every office worker has heard some version of ridiculous, tongue-twisting corporate-speak. This ingenious little Corporate Nonsense Generator is a clever send-up of all the business gobbledygook uttered in conference rooms, and it’s a perfect way for work BFFs to blow off some steam while making fun of The Man.
Happy feet
These modern, mostly cotton Japanese house slippers are machine-washable. They’re perfect for shoe-free households (or anyone who wants warm feet).
Bring new meaning to the phrase “office casual” by giving your co-worker the gift of cozy feet. The cotton-and-fleece Merippa Reversible House Shoes feel like cushy socks on your feet, and they’re reversible and machine-washable. Each pair comes with stick-on grippers, which the giftee will have to apply themselves (true to their roots, these shoes are incredibly slippery without the adhesive grippers).
Sophisticated sweets
This purveyor of elevated Swedish delights mixes some of its best sellers, including sweet, sour, chocolate, and black-licorice candies. They come packed in a glossy box, secured with a pretty ribbon.
The sparkly sour mini strawberries, shiny chocolate-covered rice puffs, and sophisticated Swedish Fish in the BonBon Medium Gift Box are the grown-up version of that proverbial kid’s proverbial candy shop. A favorite of Wirecutter’s kitchen team, this New York City shop imports high-end Swedish candies that arrive gift-ready in a chic box tied with a pretty pink ribbon. They’re also available in small and large sizes.
Work buddy
This chubby, pint-size, light-up potato is an adorable and rechargeable desktop companion.
This USB-rechargeable glowing plastic duck light doesn’t just illuminate a dark room, it also serves as a disaffected desktop companion and tablet or phone stand.
You save $4 (24%)
Work-from-home desks and in-office cubicles can both be barren, lonely places. Give your co-worker companionship in the form of Smoko, a charmingly chubby potato. Pat its round head or tummy, and the darling spud emits a soft glow in one of three brightness levels via a USB-rechargeable battery. Or if your office pal has a more “over it” vibe, give them the USB-rechargeable Lying Flat Duck Night Light. Made with plastic and silica gel, the squishy bird can sit up, go horizontal, and prop up a smartphone with its flexible orange legs.
Japanese snacks
Curated by the online Japanese market Bokksu, this snack box is chock-full of tangy, crunchy, and sweet shelf-stable delights.
(one-time order)
$15 off w/ code WIRECUTTER15
May be out of stock
When neither the fridge, the cupboard, nor even the vending machine entice, it’s time for a snack refresh. Up their workday nosh game with a box of 22 thoughtfully chosen, individually wrapped Japanese snacks, candies, and teas. While not every item was a home run, we did love the Edamame Senbei (a salty-sweet cracker dusted with soybean powder), the freeze-dried White Strawberry injected with white chocolate, and Seaweed Tempura Setouchi Sudachi (a citrusy, salty, and earthy morsel of crisped rice clusters and seaweed). Taste preferences aside, novelty always spices up the day.
Perfect pear
This shiny plastic pear stores desktop clutter and office necessities.
In a lovely marriage of form and function, this sleek pear is both glossy desk decor and office doodad organizer. It measures 9 by 6 inches (about the size of your average potted plant), and it neatly stashes away pens and pencils, chargers, earpods, and whatever other small daily supplies are cluttering your workmate’s desk. And if they’ve gone fully digital, with nary a physical tool in sight, it can always store a secret candy stash.
Sweet treats
This colorful gift bag showcases 20 flavors, such as milk tea and chocolate orange, of mini Kit Kat bars from Japan, where the candy has been obsessively reimagined.
Workday sweet treats aren’t just hunger soothers, they’re also morale boosters. If you have a co-worker with a sweet tooth who loves chocolate (and who doesn’t?), this Sugoi Mart Japan KitKat Variety Pack is both delicious and fun. It contains 60 mini Japanese KitKats in 10 different flavors you won’t find in your local grocery checkout lane, and they come in a bright cooler pack that would fit nicely in a bottom desk drawer. Many of the flavors are developed by pastry chefs and include varieties like Tokyo Island Lemon, Strawberry Gateau Chocolate, and Marcha Latte. If you’re lucky, your giftee may share in a few taste tests with you.
Fragrant olive oil
Fragrant and grassy, this oil has a fair amount of pungency and a sharp bitterness our testers enjoyed. It pairs nicely with roasted vegetables, bread, and pasta.
If you know your cubicle mate cooks, you know they use olive oil. And when you know they use olive oil, you can be sure they’ll love—or at least certainly put to good use—the single-origin Graza “Sizzle” Extra Virgin Olive Oil from southern Spain. After researching 40 varieties and tasting 15, our panelists chose this oil as their top pick among widely available store-bought brands for its tomato-plant aromas; grassy, peppery flavors; and rich but not overly fatty mouthfeel. It’s also affordable, so if your recipient wants to replace it after emptying the bottle, you haven’t given them an expensive habit.
Go-anywhere charger
This charger offers fast wireless charging and easy magnetic alignment, but it’s best suited for iPhone 12 or later models.
If your work significant other is always asking the bartender to plug in their phone at happy hour, ease their low-battery woes. The Apple-certified Belkin Boost Charge Pro Portable Wireless Charger Pad with MagSafe, which has a built-in kickstand, is our top pick for the best Qi wireless charger for iPhones—in our tests, it was actually faster than Apple’s own MagSafe Charger.
Classy key ring
This simple and elegant key ring requires no prying or wrestling. The helix comes in brass or stainless steel.
Your colleague with the stylishly appointed desk and killer work outfits would certainly appreciate the quietly elegant Craighill Closed Helix Keyring. Available in brass or stainless steel, it’s just the right size for house and office-drawer keys, but not too bulky for pants pockets. The wire folds neatly across itself, and your giftee can readily and securely add or remove keys by unscrewing the ridged endcap. Just note: It doesn’t fit standard FOB keys, so if your giftee has a car or apartment FOB, you may want to opt for this eight-ring Japanese key ring holder instead.
A permanent scratch pad
This letter-size, glass dry-erase board resists staining and eliminates desktop paper clutter.
The 8½-by-11-inch Quartet Glass Dry-Erase Desktop Easel lies flat or props up easel-style to rescue workspaces from sticky notes and scratch-pad clutter. It resists stains and ghosting (it comes with a dry-erase marker), and the clip can keep bills or invoices neatly contained. As work-from-home expert Melanie Pinola said, “It’s almost cathartic to purge random notes and have a clean slate at the end of the day.”
Refined writing
Designed in 1969, this classic cartridge pen is beautiful to behold. It’s also a delight to hold, with a comfortable hexagonal grip and a smooth writing tip.
The Caran d’Ache 849 Brut Rosé ballpoint pen is one of our favorites. With its matte rose-gold finish—made with 1 to 2 microns of real gold—and hexagonal shape, this Swiss pen is a pleasure to write with. And you won’t need to wrap it, since the metal case makes for an excellent presentation. Do your recipient a solid and throw in a couple of refills, too.
The best travel mug
This mug is great at keeping stuff hot, and it has a locking, leakproof lid. Also, you can operate it with one hand.
The Zojirushi Stainless Steel Mug has been our pick since 2013; we’ve even published an ode in its honor. What makes this vacuum-insulated mug so great? It’s lightweight and slim (hello, cupholder), and you can easily unhitch the locking latch with one hand. It also keeps things hot for up to 10 hours, aka the entire workday and the commute home.
Sweet succulents
This box of small yet vigorous succulents is a simple, affordable gift that will expand someone’s plant collection or enliven their work environment.
Plants clean the air and brighten any environment, even a cubicle. The Rooted Baby Desert Box’s three tiny, hard-to-kill succulents are small enough to live on a desktop and easy enough to keep alive, even if natural light is scarce and the air is of the recycled variety. To save your recipient the hassle of repotting, consider ordering them with terra-cotta pots, for just a little extra.
Nice spice
This Chinese spice set will brighten nearly any dish, from stir-fry to scrambled eggs.
May be out of stock
Co-workers don’t let co-workers suffer a sad desk lunch. Even if you can’t drag your work spouse away from their screen for an hour, the punchy Fly By Jing Mini Sampler Set can liven up their midday meal. Each jar (this box includes four) provides the inimitable flavors of the Sichuan province—numbing peppercorn, zippy chili, umami richness, and just a bit of sweet. The flavors are delicious, unique, and strong, so just a dab will do. And even though the petite, 2-ounce jars won’t take up much space in the communal fridge, your co-worker should probably hide them or be prepared to “share.”
Neck-knot untangler
This curved fiberglass cane has six massage knobs that dial in pressure on hard-to-reach spots.
Most everyone will end up with a sore back and neck after spending hours slouched over a desktop. And the Thera Cane Massager can bring relief much more quickly (and cheaply) than a standing appointment with the masseuse. A longtime Wirecutter favorite, this self-massage tool has six knobs that dig precisely into muscular nooks and crannies, and the hooked shape lets the user control the pressure and intensity. The durable plastic won’t bend or snap, even if your co-worker leans in with their full body weight. Also, since this massager is flat and battery free, it’s less cumbersome than other at-home massage devices.
Organized bookends
These metal bookends have tiered tabs to keep books and folders organized. They’re available in neutral grays or cheerful rainbow tones.
If your co-worker’s commuting bag always has a dog-eared paperback tucked inside, or you’ve spied their overflowing bookshelves during Zoom meetings, streamlined steel bookends would likely be a much-appreciated gift. Available in a prismatic rainbow or ombre gray, the five pieces in this Index set have tabs at differing heights to neatly separate your colleague’s Oscar Wilde from their Ernest Hemingway. Since these bookends are paper thin, they’re also excellent for organizing reference manuals, binders, and folders on small desktop spaces.
Chill out
This extra-creamy treat from Ohio isn’t cheap, but the delectable flavors, like Darkest Chocolate and Salty Caramel, make it worth the price.
Ice cream makes a foolproof gift, both for the boss you’ve known a while and the brand-new colleague. Our kitchen team considers Ohio-based Jeni’s one of the best edible gifts you can send. This set features Jeni’s five most popular flavors, including the life-changing Darkest Chocolate and the nostalgic Brambleberry Crisp. Shipping ranges from $13 to $19, depending on where you’re sending it (maybe have it posted right to the office so you can all share).
A sleek sleeve
This sturdy laptop sleeve will protect your co-worker’s laptop, and there are countless designs to choose from.
Yes, your colleague can customize their laptop with stickers, but a cute laptop sleeve is a less-committed choice (especially if their device technically belongs to the company). Some of our favorite sleeves from testing are those sold by Society6. Artists use this platform to have their work printed on dozens of different items, which means there are thousands of prints to choose from, including line-drawn faces (pictured above). Whatever design perfectly suits your colleague, it will come printed on a firm, padded, canvas-style polyester sleeve, which protects against dust, scratches, and bumps and closes with a durable YKK zipper.
A daily dose of vocab
Delight logophiles and autodidacts with this classic tear-away calendar from the editors of Merriam-Webster.
May be out of stock
There’s something nostalgic and charming about a tear-off daily calendar. And the 365 New Words-A-Year Page-A-Day Calendar 2026, featuring 365 glittering vocabulary words, (available starting in August) is a particularly fun gift for the co-worker who loves language, lexicography, or just learning anything at all. Each page of this calendar offers detailed etymology and sample sentences from the editors of Merriam-Webster. Staff writer Dorie Chevlen has happily received one from her mother every year for about a decade.
Mighty matcha
This spin on toasty, cozy-tasting genmaicha, a combination of green tea mixed with roasted and popped brown rice, adds matcha for a deeper green-tea flavor.
In Japan, genmaicha, which translates to “brown rice tea,” is an affordable, everyday brew defined by a combination of green tea and toasted puffed rice that gives it a distinctive nutty flavor. The Kettl Genmaimatcha Tea Bags puts an upgraded spin on it, mixing in high-grade matcha powder with the toasted brown rice, along with first flush sencha (tender, new growth green tea leaves plucked first in the harvest season). The blend hails from Uji, a town south of Kyoto famous for its green tea. While Kettl offers loose-leaf bags of the stuff, this version is divvied up in less fussy, more office-friendly tea bags, so your giftee can enjoy a cup without having to wash out a tea strainer. The packaging is pretty enough to display on one’s desk, too.
A happy-go-lucky tchotchke
These just-for-laughs springy desk companions hail from the late-1960s happy movement.
For the office mate who loves tchotchkes—you know the desk—this little figurine is sure to add even more cheer to their cubicle or makeshift work-from-home setup. The Hoptimist was designed by Danish woodturner and counterculture icon Hans Gustav Ehrenreich as part of the late-1960s happy movement. Sure to provide happiness to your recipient, the Hoptimist serves as the main sponsor of the Danish Hospital Clowns, a nonprofit focused on bringing joyful entertainment to sick children.
A personalized mug
This vibrant, personalized ceramic mug will stand up to daily dishwasher runs—and it should prevent office-cup swiping.
Maybe your co-worker misses your smiling face in the neighboring cubicle now that they’re working mostly from home. Or maybe they miss their dog now that they’re sometimes back at the office. For all manner of longing, consider this unexpected, tender, and/or downright silly gift idea: Upload a picture onto a mug so your colleague can enjoy a fond memory while sipping their morning coffee (or to prevent unauthorized mug “borrowing”). We ordered custom photo mugs from two companies, and we found that Shutterfly’s Photo Gallery Mug had more vibrant colors and decals. It also seemed more durable overall than the one we tried from Vistaprint.
Better instant coffee
These individual packets of instant coffee offer flavors of citrus and apple.
Coffee can make good times better and stressful times a little less so. Depending on the needs of your co-worker (as in, do they have kids who demand their attention before they can even turn on a coffee maker?), you may want to get them instant coffee, which they can whip up without a thought. Don’t be repelled by the concept: Instant coffee has improved a lot since the days of stale-tasting Nescafé. We taste-tested several brands, so we feel confident recommending Verve Coffee Roasters’s mild, malty coffee, which has a pleasant roasted scent. If your co-worker is less harried, send them regular coffee: We like Atlas Coffee Club’s choices, which are sold by the bag or even as a subscription (for the colleague you really like).
Skin saver
This prettily packaged balm has a rich, buttery texture that soothes and smoothes severe dryness with shea butter and honey. Its rose and citrus fragrance is subtle, though it may cause irritation for extra-sensitive skin.
You’d be surprised at how often an all-purpose salve comes to the rescue in and out of the office. To prevent and treat itchy, cracked skin, we love Féret Parfumeur Le Baume, which writer Zoe Vanderweide credits with saving her stubbornly chapped elbows and other rough patches. This French salve comes in a charming vintage-looking yellow tin, with Art Nouveau lettering, and it would be handy tucked in a top desk drawer, especially come winter. The shea-butter-based balm is also laced with sesame and sunflower seed oils, and it has a delicate scent of rose with subtle notes of citrus — that won’t overwhelm a cubicle space.
We love finding gifts that are unusual, thoughtful, and well vetted. See even more gift ideas we recommend.
This article was edited by Hannah Morrill and Jennifer Hunter. Dorie Chevlen contributed reporting.
Meet your guides
Samantha Schoech
I discover, vet, and write about gifts of all kinds from my office in San Francisco. I am particularly drawn to all things shiny or bookish, but I try not to impose my taste more than is strictly necessary.
Mari Uyehara
I cover a wide range of gift giving, with a specialty in food and drink gifts; I also touch on beauty on occasion. I work to ensure that we consider a diverse range of socio-cultural backgrounds in our guides.
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Further reading
The 33 Best Gifts for People Who Work From Home
by Samantha Schoech
We’ve put together a WFH gift list that supports work time and down time.
The 11 Best Gifts for Grown-Ups That Don’t Wanna Grow Up
by Mari Uyehara
For grown-up lovers of cartoons, gaming, and “kid food,” we’ve found a bunch of gifts sure to lift their fun-loving spirits.
The 31 Best Secret Santa Gifts
by Samantha Schoech
We’ve found dozens of well-priced, funny, lovely, and useful gifts to delight nearly anyone (even Harold in HR).
Last-minute gifts we love
by Samantha Schoech
All of these excellent, thoughtful gifts can be bestowed in a matter of days or minutes, from a delightful Japanese pocket knife to a great set of paints.
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