Asleep on the job: Here’s how many Americans admit to napping during work hours

It is not uncommon for sleep-deprived Americans to catch up on their z’s while on the job, according to new data.

Survey results released this week by Sleep Doctor found nearly half (46%) of U.S. workers snooze during work hours at least a few times a year, and 1 in 3 nap on the job on a weekly basis. 

“I was surprised to see how many people nap at work,” Dr. Michael Breus, clinical psychologist and sleep medicine expert at Sleep Doctor, told FOX Business. “I thought this might be due to working remotely, but it seems to still be a factor for in-person employment as well. This continues to speak to the massive sleep deprivation we see across the country and workforce.”

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The analysis, based on a poll of 1,250 working adults, found that a whopping 77% of respondents said they lost sleep at night due to career-related stressors. The most common job concern cited was work-life balance, followed by demanding projects, upcoming deadlines and struggles to get to work on time.

The survey also indicated that remote and hybrid workers are more likely to take naps during the workday and tend to nap longer than in-person workers. Younger workers are more likely to nap than older workers, and men are more likely to nap than women.

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Roughly one third of nap-taking workers admitted to missing meetings or deadlines because they were napping, and one in four remote workers reported actually falling asleep during a meeting.

FOX Business asked Dr. Breus whether employers are embracing workday snoozing more now than they have in the past, given high-profile companies like Zappos offering nap rooms and Google providing sleep pods for staffers.

“Historically, very few people seemed to use napping pods or nap rooms, unless their manager did first or regularly,” he said. “Many people would tell me that they were concerned that a manager might think they were lazy.”

So where are tired on-site employees getting their workday shut-eye?

According to the survey, the most common location for in-person workers to nap is their car (50%), while 33% said they nap at their desk, 20% use a company-designated napping place, and 14% return home to snooze. 

Nine percent said they nap in the bathroom.