Napping at work has been adapted by many cultures as a simple and cheap way for companies to give employees a midday break and a recharge of their batteries. Although taking a nap is proven to up afternoon productivity as well as creativity, there’s still a real stigma against the practice in the United States. Still, many experts recommend at least a 20 minute catnap during the workday – if not the full two-hour sleepy-time siesta employees take after lunch in some countries.
The info below comes from the latest reading of an ongoing study by Comparably, wherein anonymous respondents were asked to answer the question, “Does your office have space to take naps and/or a culture that supports napping during work hours?” More than 5,000 people replied to the question.
There may be a nap gap
In the case of the napping question, men were far more liable to answer (27%) that “yes,” their work culture encouraged naps. Women answered “yes” far less frequently, with only 19% of respondents replying in the affirmative. Whatever the reason for this discrepancy, overall it’s clear that napping breaks are a relatively rare perk among those who took our survey.
Younger respondents answered “yes” more frequently
The 18-25 age group was most likely to report working at a company that encouraged napping, a fact that implies the influence of startup culture practices on American jobs. This theory is bolstered by the fact that we see the “yes” answers declining as age increases, with respondents in their late 40s and 50s rarely reporting any kind napping program at their places of work. This also supports the idea that napping at work is a newer practice less familiar to or encouraged by those who have been in the workforce for decades.
Coastal tech hub cities are getting their naptimes
Seattle and San Francisco both ranked high for positive responses, but were bested by Los Angeles who topped our list with 30% of respondents saying their work culture encouraged napping. That’s a big difference from Minneapolis (14%) and Phoenix (11%), where very few reported having the option.
The latest reading is as of Feb. 26
