One of Asia's largest insurers is taking a stand against the work culture of getting ahead professionally at the expense of one's health. What is behind the new initiative?
Hong Kong-based AIA Group unveiled an initiative designed to ensure its staff is rested enough to be productive during the workday. Bankers who are often cutting back on sleep can find tips, tools, and rewards at the company's «sleep content hub» that may encourage them to change their behavior.
The move is noteworthy because it comes from a financial institution in Asia, where economic growth has fueled a go-go culture in banking and insurance. Lloyd's boss Antonio Horta-Osorio is a prominent example of the pitfalls of embracing this culture without taking adequate breaks.
Sleep-Deprived Asians
Based on their surveys in China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia, AIA said it found that over half of the people surveyed – 55 percent – said they get just six hours or less sleep each night. Seven to nine hours of uninterrupted rest is viewed by sleep experts as the optimal amount of for most adults.
«We are taking a stand to refute the allegations that less sleep is more. There is abundant science-backed proof to show that to do better, you need to sleep better,» AIA marketing chief Stuart Spencer said in a statement.
«Just One More Hour»
In addition, 66 percent said they either worry about not getting enough sleep or want more sleep. «Just one more hour of sleep can provide an extensive number of health benefits and yet sleep deprivation continues to affect an increasing number of people in Asia,» Spencer added.
Sleep loss degrades perception, attention, and memory decoding, according to Michael Chee, one of Asia’s sleep experts from Duke-NUS Medical School and Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in Singapore, which worked in partnership with AIA. This echoes findings by other scientists, which elaborate that our brains need sleep to recover and consolidate fact-based learning and memories.
