The business costs of poor sleep
The cost of poor sleep: workplace productivity loss and associated costs. Rosekind MR, Gregory KB, Mallis MM, Brandt SL, Seal B, Lerner D. J Occup Environ Med. 2010. 52(1): 91-8.
Aim
To assess the impact of sleep disturbances on work performance and productivity, and review the associated productivity costs.
Looked at
4,188 employees at four US companies.
How?
Employees were evaluated for sleep problems and placed into one of four categories: i) insomnia, ii) insufficient sleep syndrome, iii) at-risk, and iv) good sleep. These results were then compared to productivity measurements from the Work Limitations Questionnaire.
Results
- Employees with insomnia had a 6.1% productivity loss compared to 2.5% productivity loss in employees who had good sleep.
- Those with insomnia or insufficient sleep had significantly more negative effects of tiredness on their attention, decision-making, memory and motivation at work.
- Insomnia or insufficient sleep made employees significantly more likely to unintentionally fall asleep at work and nod off while driving, leading to near misses or accidents.
- Fatigue-related productivity losses were estimated to cost the companies $1,967 per employee.
What does this mean?
Poor sleep affects employees' productivity through impairing memory, decision making and motivation, which results in significant business costs.