Between long work hours and less-than-ideal sleep quality, a lot of Americans are exhausted. And it turns out, some are willing to give up their vacation time at work to make up for it. According to a new survey from Amerisleep, more than a third (37%) have used PTO days just to catch up on sleep in the last year.
“Burnout is so widespread that people are burning vacation days on basic recovery instead of new experiences,” Rosie Osmun, certified sleep science coach at Amerisleep, tells “Newsweek.” “This shift shows that rest has become a necessity, not a luxury.”
Their poll of 12-hundred U.S. adults also uncovers:
- Millennials used PTO for sleep and rest the most (43%), followed by Gen X (34%), Gen Z (33%), while only 20% of baby boomers have done so.
- More than a third of millennials (35%) have also taken a vacation primarily to catch up on sleep, compared to 30% of Gen Z, 29% of Gen X, and 17% of baby boomers.
- High earners are also 26% more likely to use PTO for sleep than those making less than $100-thousand.
- On average, Americans who used PTO for sleep took two or three days to catch up.
- Interest in sleep retreats is also on the rise, with 38% of respondents saying they’d be interested in a vacation designed to improve their sleep.
- Nearly half (47%) say they’d be willing to spend up to 25% more for that experience.
- One in three say they would even do a full digital detox and completely avoid screens to help improve sleep.
Source: Newsweek