Companies offer napping at work as lack of proper rest is estimated to cost economy $138bn a year
Imagine working for an employer who, aware that you’re probably not sleeping enough at night, allows you to down tools and nap as part of your regular work duties – and not just forty winks at your desk, but a restorative snooze in a quiet room.
These are some of the measures being used by a growing number of companies in Japan to counter an epidemic of sleeplessness that costs its economy an estimated $138bn (£108bn) a year .
Tech startups have been quickest to address the “sleep debt” among irritable and unproductive employees.
Last year, Nextbeat, an IT service provider, went as far as setting up two “strategic sleeping rooms” – one for men, the other for women – at its headquarters in Tokyo. The aroma-infused rooms feature devices that block out background noise, allowing workers to stretch out on sofas for an undisturbed kip. Mobile phones, tablets and laptops are banned.
“Napping can do as much to improve someone’s efficiency as a balanced diet and exercise,” Emiko Sumikawa, a member of the Nextbeat board, told Kyodo news agency.
