From silence to support: Why menopause matters in the workplace
Menopausal women are now the fastest-growing demographic in the workforce, according to the NHS Inform (2023).
This statistic reinforces a pressing reality: there are many women navigating menopause and perimenopause symptoms while performing their roles at work, with numbers only set to grow.
And despite the fact not all women will experience symptoms, those who do will likely have days that are a struggle.
Experiencing menopause symptoms in the workplace
Reflecting on her own personal journey, our CEO Dominique Kent, said: “My first symptom of menopause was my memory … I was really scared. I would be sitting at my laptop working, replying to emails and not be able to find the basic words. I was thinking, ‘Is this stress. Is this pressure?’ I was really worried.
“This was followed by raging hot flushes. I logged them one day and I had 34 hot flushes in the period of 24 hours. It was at that point that I thought, ‘oh this might be menopause’.”
Menopause and perimenopause can feel different for everyone.
Some women may experience no symptoms at all, though others may experience several – such as muscle ache, migraines and headaches, difficulty sleeping, or ‘brain fog’ like Kent.
In fact, health education website Patient estimates that 8 out of 10 women will develop menopausal symptoms at some point, and around a quarter of women have very severe symptoms (2024).
A survey from the British Menopause Society pointed to how these symptoms exist within the workplace with their survey of 1,000 adults in the UK (2023).
The findings showed that 45% of women felt that menopausal symptoms had a negative impact on their work.
Though despairingly, 47% who needed to take a day off work due to menopause symptoms say they wouldn’t tell their employer the real reason.
Acknowledging the taboo around menopause
This tells us that menopause – a natural event that the fastest growing demographic in our workforce will experience – is a health crisis.
Despite the risks of possible discrimination under the Equality Act of 2010, menopause as a conversation can feel taboo and off-limits beyond the office doors.
This silence has consequences: it disproportionately impacts talented women, particularly those in senior roles.
Businesses that fail to provide effective menopause support risk losing invaluable expertise, leadership and innovation.
Evidently, this can have detrimental effects on everything from business productivity to your bottom line, from team morale to your performance metrics.
This should not be the case.
The need to tackle the stigma of menopause is only heightened by the fact that there’s still a lot of misunderstanding and misinformation out there; many women report feeling alone when trying to cope with difficult symptoms.
More than 90% of postmenopausal women were never taught about the menopause at school, and over 60% only started looking for information about the menopause once their symptoms had started, according to a study conducted by the University College London (2023).
Providing intelligent menopause workplace support
So that raises the question of what exactly can businesses do?
Business should foster a culture where employees feel comfortable discussing menopause.
Among many ways, this can come in the form of strategies and flexible working policies that help to mitigate the challenges associated with menopause symptoms.
HR has a role to play in shaping how this may look.
Another way to support women can be the provision of health assessments that may give women much-needed answers during a time of uncertainty.
For example, bespoke menopause testing can help women to understand if they are menopausal – and subsequently inform their decision making around hormone replacement therapy.
This way, they can better manage the impact of menopause on their daily lives.
This can be further aided by educating your workforce, normalisng conversations around menopause so that together you can tackle the evident taboo.
Just because we as HR professionals are acutely aware of the need to discuss menopause, and the challenges associated with these conversations, it doesn’t mean others are too.
We need to bring the rest of the business along.
Whether it be through the provision of educational resources, DE&I workshops, or other means, you can help to develop a team-wide understanding where colleagues empathise with others’ experiences.
Shedding light on how menopause can manifest and be managed in professional settings, Kent added: “It's really important that we are kind to women in business who are going through the menopause.
“The impact really isn’t to be underestimated. It’s not just brain fog. The symptoms can be much more severe than that.
“We must allow women who are experiencing severe symptoms to stand back from a presentation, if they're not in a good place or wrap some support around them to enable them not to feel like they're failing.
“I’ve seen it happen too many times, when women are left to falter, with no support or understanding of why they’re not performing as they normally would,” added Kent.
Menopause is not just a personal health issue – it’s a workforce and wellbeing issue.
Employers have an opportunity to lead with empathy, invest in their employees, and create workplaces where everyone can excel. The time to act is now.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, Bluecrest Wellness
Bluecrest Wellness offers high-quality health screenings.
