Poor sleep is quietly undermining concentration, accuracy and performance across UK workplaces, with new survey data showing many employees are regularly operating without adequate rest.
A poll of 2,000 UK adults found the average person only experiences three nights of good quality sleep each week. The shortfall is spilling into working life, with a third of workers saying tiredness makes it harder to concentrate and more than one in five reporting an increase in mistakes while on the job.
The findings come from research published by Mental Health Foundation, which focuses on preventing poor mental health and protecting long-term wellbeing. The charity warned that sleep deprivation is acting both as a consequence of workplace pressure and a growing barrier to effective performance.
Sleep Loss Affecting Day-to-Day Performance
According to the survey, 33 percent of UK workers said poor sleep had made it harder for them to concentrate at work. A further 22 percent said tiredness had caused them to make more mistakes than usual, while 13 percent reported having fallen asleep at work.
The research also points to the role work itself plays in disrupted sleep. One in seven respondents said their job had negatively affected their sleep in the past month, suggesting that stress, workload or working patterns are feeding directly into rest deprivation.
Sleep is widely recognised as essential for emotional regulation, stress management and cognitive functioning. Persistent disruption can weaken resilience and decision-making, raising concerns for both individual wellbeing and organisational effectiveness.
Work Pressure and Rest Closely Linked
Alexa Knight, director of Policy and Influencing at the Mental Health Foundation, said the findings showed how closely sleep and working life are intertwined. “Sleep is essential for our mental and physical health, but it’s often the first thing we sacrifice when life gets busy or stressful,” she said. “This research shows that poor sleep can be both a consequence of work-related stress and a barrier to performing well at work.”
She said many workers were caught in a cycle where job pressure disrupted sleep, while lack of rest then impaired focus and wellbeing during the working day. “Many UK adults report that their jobs are affecting their ability to get good quality sleep, while at the same time, lack of sleep is interfering with their concentration, decision-making, and wellbeing.”
From a workplace wellbeing perspective, the data raises questions about how organisations assess workload sustainability and recognise fatigue before it becomes a risk to health or safety.
Employers Urged to Take Preventative Action
The findings were released as the Government’s Keep Britain Working review called for stronger employer action on health and wellbeing. The review, led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, encouraged organisations to focus more heavily on prevention and early intervention, rather than responding only once problems escalate.
The Mental Health Foundation said sleep and rest needed to form part of that discussion. Knight said employers had a clear role to play in shaping conditions that support healthier sleep patterns. “Employers have a vital role to play in creating environments that support healthy sleep, through flexible working, manageable workloads, and open conversations about mental health.”
She stressed the importance of normalising discussions about rest and wellbeing at work, adding that employees needed to feel safe raising concerns before exhaustion began to affect their health or performance.
Creating Space to Talk about Wellbeing
Knight said organisations that invested in wellbeing initiatives, including promoting healthy sleep habits, often saw wider benefits. “Workplaces that invest in wellbeing initiatives, including promoting healthy sleep habits, can see improvements in staff engagement, productivity, and retention.”
She added that psychological safety remained central, saying, “Ensuring workplaces are safe spaces to discuss mental health and wellbeing is essential. Staff must feel comfortable to share their worries and managers should be trained to know how to best support people who are struggling.”
The Mental Health Foundation is also the organisation behind Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs each May and is designed to help employers open conversations about mental health in accessible, low-pressure ways.
As the survey suggests many workers are already operating on inadequate sleep, observers warn that failure to address rest and recovery risks embedding fatigue as a normalised feature of working life rather than a warning sign.