Japan Firm To Pay People To Sleep On The Job

A popular snack company in Japan is looking for the right people to sleep on the job. There is no necessary skill and experience required for the job opening at Calbee Inc, and successful candidates will take part in the "sleep performance improvement programme", according to a report in Japanese newspaper Mainichi. The study will be supervised by Masashi Yanagisawa, a sleep researcher and professor at the University of Tsukuba's International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, the outlet further said. It will look at improving a person's sleep pattern.

Calbee Nyumin, an edible over-the-counter edible sleep-aid strip, said the Mainichi report. It began seeking candidates for the paid sleep research last week.

The participants can sleep at their homes and the researchers will measure their brain waves over the course of several nights. The data collected from studying these people will be published on social media.

Calbee said that its programme will offer a way for people to challenge themselves to improve their sleep, in view of changes in people's lifestyles due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Five candidates will get 50,000 yen (Rs 30,452) each to join the experiment and an additional 50,000 yen will be paid to people who are able to improve their sleep quality, said the report in Mainichi.

A study published in The British Medical Journal in February found that COVID survivors have a higher chance of experiencing mental health issues, including anxiety and sleep loss.

The study was based on the responses of more than 13,000 people from 16 countries. Almost half of the respondents said they suffered from insomnia, according to findings published in the Journal of Sleep Research in October.