Workers in their 50s and 60s are experiencing far more sleep trouble than most people realize—and a large share of it stems directly from stress on the job.
A year-long study from the University of Edinburgh tracked 45 workers aged 50 to 66 across multiple employment sectors. Researchers collected more than 1,900 self-reported wellbeing and workplace assessments along with over 5,200 days of data from wearable sensors. The results were striking: nearly 70 percent of participants had persistent, clinically significant sleep problems even though none had a known history of sleep disorders. Almost 92 percent crossed the clinical threshold for a sleep disorder at least once during the study.
An overlooked problem
Sleep in healthy, working adults has received far less attention than sleep in clinical populations. Many earlier studies focused mainly on total sleep duration or used less precise monitoring methods. As a result, widespread sleep disturbances in this group have gone largely unnoticed.
Participants often assumed their poor sleep came from simply not getting enough rest. The wearable data told a different story. Most people averaged a seemingly adequate 6.5 to 8 hours of sleep per night. The real issue was frequent nighttime awakenings and interruptions. Ninety percent of participants experienced ongoing sleep disturbances throughout the study.
Work stress as a major driver
Researchers used artificial intelligence to sift through the large dataset and identify the factors most strongly linked to sleep disruption and overall wellbeing. Workplace experiences consistently ranked among the top influences.
Work-related stress emerged as a key pathway connecting job conditions to both poorer sleep quality and lower wellbeing. Overall wellbeing was closely tied to work-life balance and job satisfaction. Participants who felt gloomy, irritated, or tense at work reported consistently lower wellbeing. These patterns held across different industries and for both men and women.
Why this matters now
The findings arrive as the workforce ages rapidly. Roughly one in three UK workers is currently over 50, and the number of people over 65 in the UK is projected to reach 17.7 million by 2050. Poor health remains one of the leading reasons people leave the workforce before retirement, making support for older workers an urgent priority for employers and policymakers.
The research forms part of the Supporting Healthy Aging at Work project, an interdisciplinary program led by the University of Edinburgh Business School.
Experts react
“Having spent years analyzing data from patients with clinical sleep and mental health disorders, I was genuinely surprised by the sheer scale of sleep problems we uncovered in this otherwise undiagnosed group,” said lead author Athanasios Tsanas. “Our analysis clearly demonstrates that many of these sleep and wellbeing issues are work-related, with overall wellbeing heavily dependent on sustained work-life balance. By utilizing longitudinal smartwatch data, we captured nuanced, previously unexplored patterns. Crucially, these findings point to actionable intervention strategies, offering a roadmap to help people build healthier, more sustainable lives as they get closer to the transition into retirement.”
Dr. Belinda Steffan of the University of Edinburgh Business School added: “While we knew from previous evidence that sleep can influence work, and work can influence sleep, we were surprised by the extent to which our non-clinical study population was struggling with their sleep. While there are certainly some age-related sleep disruptors, such as menopause and bodily aging, there are also many wider factors such as care-related stress, financial stress, and wider non-age-specific work-related stress. Our study highlights that sleep is a workplace health and wellbeing issue. Organizations and employers must consider the impact of work-related sleep problems on their workforce, focusing on workers over 50 in the context of our study, but relevant to all age groups.”
The results suggest employers have a direct stake in addressing sleep problems rather than treating them as purely personal matters. Supporting better sleep could improve employee health and help experienced workers stay active and engaged longer.
The study was published in the journal *Scientific Reports*.