As if there aren't enough things to keep people up at night worrying, now there's one more: fretting about lost productivity on the job.
According to a new CareerBuilder survey, Daylight Savings Time won't be the only thing robbing workers of sleep this weekend. Work already does that on a regular basis.
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The survey finds 26 percent of respondents already feel they do not get enough sleep each night, and 60 percent of all workers say a lack of sleep has negatively impacted their work. To add insult to injury, nearly half of all workers — 47 percent — say thinking about work keeps them up at night.
And most of them are already running on empty when it comes to sleep, with just 17 percent of all workers reporting that they get at least eight hours of sleep a night — and that can have a negative impact on productivity, among other factors. Only 52 percent of workers even get as much as an average of five to seven hours of sleep each night, while 6 percent can't even manage an average of five hours per night, coming in somewhere under that number.
And some just can't face getting up in the morning, snooze button or not; 22 percent have actually called in sick just to get some extra sleep.
The study also finds sleep deprivation takes a toll on the businesses these sleep-deprived employees work for. Sixty percent of workers, for instance, say lack of sleep has had an impact on their work in some way.
Among those impacts reported by respondents are these: making the day go by more slowly (29 percent); reduces motivation (27 percent); makes workers less productive (25 percent); affects memory (19 percent); makes them take longer to complete tasks (13 percent); makes them crabby with coworkers (13 percent); makes them make mistakes (12 percent); and makes them resent their jobs (8 percent).
"As Americans work extended hours, routinely take work home, and juggle two or more jobs on top of long commutes, sleep has become a casualty of the race for time," Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer at CareerBuilder, says in a statement, adding, "But lack of sleep undermines performance and can create a vicious cycle of working more hours to compensate for diminished productivity and having less time to sleep."
This doesn't have to be the case, however; Haefner continues, "Employers can take steps to make sure their workers are getting enough sleep, such as by tweaking night shift schedules or imposing limits on consecutive shifts. They can also have wellness initiatives that encourage workers to go to sleep at the same time every night and create a relaxing bedroom environment."
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