Forty Winks: The Organizational Benefits of Reducing Employee Sleep Deficit

Americans are tired and instead of working to live they are living to work. Previously, the pace of life was dictated by nature, hours of sunlight, and the tides. Now, it is being dictated by economic necessity, and the boundaries between work and life are being blurred. In fact, 70 million Americans are sleep-deprived. Many companies are now beginning to address employee fatigue because they recognize that fatigue is behind on-the-job accidents, absenteeism, lower productivity, and higher health care costs. This paper will describe the causes of sleep deprivation, the costs to organizations, the benefits of power napping, what employees can do, what companies have done, and what other companies can do to help their workforce feel better while improving productivity and at the same time reducing accidents and health care costs.