Marking this as solved since I didn't get any new reports
@reboot2019 Did the issue eventually return after starting a fresh game?
@Darnellcotez Yes it's here to stay for a while I think.
I can work around it in my game because 1. it doesn't affect all the Sims and 2. they're all working different hours, so rarely together in the same house. I also found that taking away the coffee & ice cream machines breaks up the monotony and encourages them to find fun elsewhere, I actually witnessed one dancing to the stereo and another reading an eBook on the tablet yesterday, a real joy to behold as both objects had been little more than dust magnets for the past week or so.
I am not sure what to suggest other than try to be patient, I remember a while back the devs had been tweaking the autonomy levels and if I am remembering correctly it lead to an issue with the Sims not being able to clear or wash dishes, it didn't take them long to fix it though.
