One in five (20%) women fear they will be considered a pest if they ask for advice on workplace and career issues compared to just 14% of males, according to research from rungway, the app to meet, help and be helped on work and life questions. 

Among UK workers, almost half (49%) said they never look for guidance on workplace and career issues. Yet, almost one in five (19%) said that work issues affect their sleep on a weekly basis. One in 10 feel like they have no one to talk to about work problems or that no one would understand their work issue.

By region: who’s losing sleep?
Oxford workers are the region losing the most sleep over work issues. Almost a third (32%) of Oxford workers say their sleep is affected by work issues on a weekly basis. Belfast and Londoners were next, with a quarter (25% and 24% respectively) losing sleep weekly, followed by those in Birmingham (22%). Conversely, those in Glasgow are the least affected, with just 12% having their sleep affected by work issues on a weekly basis.

It seems young people are most afraid of being considered a pest, with 18 to 34-year-olds citing it as the main reason they won’t ask for advice on work issues. The 25 to 34-year-old age group also held concerns that no-one would understand their work issue (18%), that they have no one to turn to (14%), or that they are afraid to ask (12%). Among those a little older, 23% of 35 to 44-year-olds and 22% of 45 to 54-year-olds don’t ask for advice as they feel other people are too busy to help. Not wanting to seem like a pest was still the second greatest reason for these age groups not asking for advice (21% and 17% respectively).

Workers over 55 are the least likely to look for guidance on workplace issues (69%). “It seems there is a lot of variation in peoples’ approach to managing work issues, but a common thread throughout is that some people are afraid of asking for help and being seen as a pest, even when work issues affect their sleep every week. Actually, ignoring issues can make things worse, and what we’ve seen on rungway is that many people around us do want to help and are offering advice regularly,” said Julie Chakraverty, founder at rungway.