A new survey looking at hospitality workers’s sleeping habits reveals that nearly half of participants (47.6%) “feel exhausted on a daily basis,” with 80% citing workplace stress as the “key cause of their disrupted sleep.”
Conducted by job site CV Library and sleep neuroscientist Professor Jim Horne, the study also found that a bad night’s sleep “negatively impacts 92.5% of hospitality workers’s working day,” who blame stress-related sleep for disrupting their emotions.
Horne said: “Most work situations require individuals to make critical decisions, remain focused and complete tasks within a timely and efficient manner. However, it’s clear from these findings that sleep loss can impair attention to detail amongst workers.
“The longer a person is awake, the more likely their mood is to be negatively affected, as well as their willingness to take risks in the workplace. Again, this could be cause for concern.”
Backing Horne’s theory, only 19% of the 1,300 participants said that they currently get their desired 7-8 hours sleep a night, and that this affects their ability to star focused (81%), to deal with challenging situations (42.9%) and make important decisions (38.1%)
Lee Biggins, founder and managing director of CV-Library added: “There are many factors that can affect (one’s) performance at work and I’m sure we’re all familiar with the negative feelings that can follow a bad night’s sleep. While this is manageable every now and again, it can quickly become all-consuming if not dealt with properly and it’s concerning to learn that many [hospitality] workers aren’t sleeping well because of workplace stress.
“If you’re suffering particularly badly, it could be worth talking to your employer to see if there’s anything that can be done to make the working day that little bit easier for you. For example, being able to work from home if you’re not feeling 100%, or to take an earlier lunch break if you’re in desperate need of some fresh air, are just small steps that can make a big difference.”
Among those most affected, 50% of hospitality employees who work night shifts “suffer from excessive sleepiness during their working hours,” while “managers are the most likely to rarely sleep well at night.”