Siesta, ah the very word reminds you of relief. Have you ever wondered why there are resting rooms provided in some organizations? It is to take a break. Break from a hectic day of work (which happens on most days). I am of the opinion that siesta time should be made mandatory. A siesta keeps a person a little healthier and fresh so that he becomes more productive.
Some developed countries have 35 hour weeks. They ensure that their employees get enough of holidays (even Paternity leaves), to see that the employees are not overloaded. Employees in such companies or countries are generally happier and contribute well. I understand the the software profession is highly demanding and needs a different outlook to work and survive. The worst case comes from , as stated by a top official in a software services company, is that the days of higher profit margins are over. The companies have to contend with lower profit margins , and this makes them squeeze more out of their employees. But my question is until when? Employee burnout may ultimately lead people towards more attrition that too out towards non IT industries, where the pay is not very high but the life is much better. Work life balance has become a myth in many of our IT companies. There are times when IT professionals have died young, just because they could not handle “it” anymore. This, of course, does not apply to everyone; but over a period of time I believe the toll may reach higher. Deaths such as these are normally a hush hush affair, and people rarely know why a person could have died. Many reasons are cited such as lack of sleep, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle all being done to favor “Delivery excellence”, but my question is if it is worth all this.
These companies can take small steps such as a siesta time. A couple of hours after lunch is supposed to be the most unproductive of them all. Trainings, knowledge transfer or a presentations etc. are avoided because of this reason. So why not do away with these 2 hours? Also they can be asked to extend these hours by adding another half or 1 hour on the day they take a siesta.