World Sleep Day 2023: This Bengaluru firm has given a much needed gift to employees

It's world sleep day today and it's a win-win for employees at Wakefit. Hoping to encourage its employees to be fully rested, a Bangalore-based start-up has announced a holiday for the employees on the World Sleep Day 2023.

Wakefit Solutions, surprised employees with a sleep holiday on March 17. A screenshot of the email addressed to all employees was uploaded on LinkedIn by Wakefit Solutions, a D2C home-and-sleep solutions start-up. "Surprise Holiday: Announcing the Gift of Sleep" was the title of the mail that was sent to the staff.

"In celebration of World Sleep Day, all Wakefit employees have been granted a day of rest on March 17th, 2023 -- and with a long weekend to follow, it's the perfect chance to catch up on some much-needed rest and relaxation,” the company informed all employees in an internal email.

Screenshots of the email were posted on the social media platform LinkedIn.

How thoughtful! @wakefit.co to offer us the #GiftOfSleep on World Sleep Day! <3#HappyEmployee #SleepHoliday #Wakefit #InternationalSleepDay pic.twitter.com/PsUf9UZsUK

— Rubinder Kaur (@29_kaur) March 15, 2023

"As sleep enthusiasts, we consider Sleep Day a festival, especially when it falls on a Friday,” the company had added in its email. Employees had the option to avail the leave if they wished.

The company’s ‘Great Indian Sleep Scorecard’ survey pointed out that there has been a 21 percent increase in people feeling drowsy during work hours over the past year. The company mentioned in its email that 11 percent more people are now waking up tired.

“Considering sleep deprivation’s prevalence, what better way to celebrate Sleep Day than through the Gift of Sleep?” the company wrote.

The 6th edition of the company’s Great Indian Sleep Scorecard (GISS) 2023 also found that the country’s sleep quality is still questionable with 33 percent of respondents believing that they suffer from insomnia. Nine out of 10 Indians reported waking up at least once or twice during the night.

The World Sleep Day is a global event celebrated annually on the third Friday of March. The day is observed to raise awareness of sleep-related issues and promote the importance of healthy sleep habits. There are multiple benefits that come with getting enough rest, including better health, improved cognitive function, and enhanced overall well-being.

Wakefit had grabbed eyeballs last year when it announced its “Right to Nap policy” with the company fixing 2 pm to 2:30 pm as the official nap hours.

“We have decided to normalise afternoon naps at work and declare 2 to 2.30 pm as the official nap time for all our employees,” wrote director and co-founder of Wakefit, Chaitanya Ramalingegowda.

Ramalingegowda cited several studies from NASA and Harvard which suggested that daily afternoon naps helped improve cognition, performance and productivity.