By the time Jalaj Jha begins getting ready for work each morning, he already feels drained. Awakening in a cramped room in Delhi, with no ventilation except a rattling fan pushing hot air around, the 24-year-old gig worker faces a 12-hour shift delivering groceries.
"I barely sleep three or four hours in this heat," Jha said, wiping dust off his motorbike. "I wake up exhausted. It feels like my body is pulling me down." At 7am, the temperature is already 30C (86F), the lowest of the day, soaring to over 45C (113F) later. This week, Delhi recorded its hottest May day in two years and the warmest May night in 14 years.
Rising temperatures are turning cities across south and southeast Asia into places where workers can no longer recover from heat. A new report by US-based People's Courage International (PCI), based on research in Delhi, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Jakarta and Quezon City, finds that hotter nights, combined with the urban heat island effect, leave millions of informal workers exhausted before a new workday begins.
For delivery riders, construction workers and street vendors living in cramped settlements with poor ventilation or unreliable electricity, sleep itself is becoming difficult. The inability to rest and cool down worsens heat-related illnesses, reduces productivity and pushes vulnerable workers into deeper economic stress.
Rising Night Temperatures Worsen Recovery
The crisis is worsening in south Asia as climate change is predicted to triple the chance of pre-monsoon heatwaves, such as a deadly 15-day event last month. Scientists say night-time temperatures are rising faster than daytime temperatures across much of the region, reducing the hours people once relied on to recover from extreme heat.
Across Asia, the International Labour Organization estimates that over 70% of the workforce is exposed to excessive heat at some point during their jobs, with informal workers among the most vulnerable. This has a major impact in countries like India, where nearly 90% of workers are employed in the informal economy.
Lost Wages, Dizziness and Fatigue
Experts warn that cities across the region remain poorly prepared for worsening heatwaves. Some governments, including Delhi's, have introduced heat action plans, water kiosks, early warning alerts and directions to reschedule outdoor work during peak afternoon heat. But researchers say most responses remain reactive and fail to directly address the needs of workers living and working in extreme heat.
The PCI report, based on interviews with over 2,200 internal migrant workers across five cities, found that nearly eight in ten said extreme heat was disrupting their livelihoods or households. Workers reported losing wages because they could not work full shifts, spending more on water, medicines and transport, and struggling with headaches, dizziness and fatigue during long outdoor workdays.
"Heat impacts are silent and generally creep up on workers," said PCI researcher Ameena Kidwai. Workers reported impacts on all aspects of their lives, including at home and work, on their commute, as well as on their mental health and sense of community.
Sleep Deprivation and Emotional Exhaustion
Ajay Kumar, 32, a roadside vegetable vendor in Gurugram on the outskirts of Delhi, spends hours daily pulling a three-wheeler rickshaw loaded with vegetables through dense traffic after buying produce from a wholesale market 7km away. "Every day my head spins with the heat. But I have no option but to work for my family," said Kumar, who has four children.
Researchers describe this growing exhaustion as a "recovery deficit" where workers begin each day already physically depleted. Sleep deprivation is contributing not only to lower productivity and worsening health, but also to anxiety and emotional exhaustion.
Kumar, who moved from a village in Bihar four years ago in search of work, lives with his wife and children in a cramped room with no ventilation except a rusty fan. He wanted to buy a cooler this summer but could not afford one. "I barely make Rp300-400 ($3-4) a day. Most of that goes in feeding my family," he said. "I keep some water with me and damp my gamcha [scarf]. That helps my head."
At night, Kumar's family often sleep on the open terrace of their building because the room becomes unbearably hot. "But even then, it takes me hours to fall asleep."
