Sleep problems are increasingly disrupting working life across the UK, with new research showing that more than half of employees are struggling to focus, make decisions or stay productive due to tiredness. The findings point to a widespread wellbeing issue that employers can no longer afford to ignore.
According to a nationally representative survey by sleep specialists Land of Beds, 56 percent of UK adults said tiredness was affecting their ability to concentrate and perform at work. Nearly six in 10 admitted to making poor decisions when sleep-deprived, while more than one in four had taken time off due to fatigue.
The data also revealed that 70 percent of respondents are failing to meet the NHS-recommended minimum of seven hours’ sleep per night. Forty-five percent reported waking up during the night, and 47 percent said they wake feeling tired almost every day. Eight in 10 said poor sleep directly affects their stress levels.
The Mental Toll of Sleeplessness
Health expert and GP Dr Katrina O’Donnell said sleep deprivation was undermining brain function and increasing the risk of mistakes.
“Sleep is essential for the mind and body, which is why poor sleep can damage every system in the body, resulting in poor health,” she said. “Daytime sleepiness leaves a person without energy to perform properly during the day and this impaired mental function makes a person less alert, making it difficult for them to multitask. This results in being more prone to mistakes in the workplace.”
Sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan said tiredness also reduces emotional control and planning ability.
“Sleep is the foundation for clear thinking, emotional stability, wise action and making good choices,” she said. “When we’re tired, our brain chemistry changes in ways that directly affect decision-making and self-control. Sleep deprivation reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for logic and planning, meaning when we’re sleep-deprived, we become more reactive and less able to think through the consequences.”
She added that hybrid working and screen exposure had blurred the lines between rest and work. “We are now well and truly embedded in a world that celebrates doing over being,” she said. “Work follows us home, especially since home working has become the norm, and the mind rarely finds stillness. Sleep is not a luxury; it’s a fundamental form of nourishment.”
Why Employers Should Take Sleep Seriously
Sleep deprivation has been linked to reduced focus, slower decision-making and an increased likelihood of errors and burnout. Research body RAND Europe estimates that poor sleep costs the UK economy as much as £40 billion each year through lost productivity, sickness absence and early death. NHS Employers, which supports workforce leaders, has warned that fatigue does not just impact negatively on an individual’s health but reduces the ability to deliver effective work.
While the effects are often treated as a personal issue, there is growing recognition that organisations must take a more active role. Observers say employers that fail to acknowledge the impact of poor sleep risk higher absence, lower morale and poorer job performance across their teams.
What Employers Can Do
Workplace experts say there are several practical and cultural steps employers can take to address sleep-related issues and support staff more effectively.
- Set clear expectations around after-hours communication. Employers should discourage late-night emails or work-related messages and lead by example by avoiding out-of-hours communication unless essential.
- Promote awareness of sleep hygiene. Sharing evidence-based guidance on bedtime routines, screen use, caffeine and lighting can help employees improve their sleep habits. Educational sessions can also reduce stigma around tiredness.
- Support recovery in shift-based roles. In sectors such as healthcare, transport or manufacturing, reviewing shift schedules to reduce fatigue risk and ensuring adequate rest periods can protect both staff and service quality.
- Create a culture that values rest. Encouraging breaks during the day, offering quiet spaces for decompression or reflection, and modelling rest-positive behaviours among leadership can help normalise sleep as part of wellbeing.
- Embed sleep in wider wellbeing strategies. As part of stress management, resilience or mental health initiatives, sleep should be given equal attention as a key driver of daily functioning and emotional balance.
Moving Beyond Tiredness as a New Normal
Tiredness has become so common that it is often accepted as a standard part of modern working life. But this normalisation masks a serious issue. HR body The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has highlighted the importance of addressing the underlying causes of poor mental and physical health — including long hours and lack of recovery time — in order to make workplace wellbeing programmes effective.
Dr Ramlakhan said fatigue must be treated as a warning sign. “When we push past our body’s natural signals to rest, we drain our energy reserves and trigger the body’s stress response. Cortisol levels rise, our thinking becomes foggy, and we feel more reactive and less resilient.”
She added that sleep can be restored, but only when organisations prioritise it. “Restoring proper sleep allows the brain to rebalance, strengthening the prefrontal cortex, calming the emotional centres and helping us make wiser, more grounded decisions.”
Rest as a Workplace Priority
The evidence suggests that the UK workforce is not just tired but running on empty. With seven in 10 employees under-sleeping and more than half already experiencing performance issues, sleep problems have moved beyond individual wellbeing to become a systemic organisational risk.
Addressing sleep is not about offering perks or wellness tokens, experts say. It requires rethinking work expectations, setting healthier boundaries and recognising that without rest, performance, safety and staff retention all suffer.