Despite the fact menopause symptoms will affect nearly half of the workforce at some point, it has not historically been openly talked about in the workplace. But this has begun to change as more women join companies’ senior ranks, and employers increasingly wake up to the impact of menopause on their female talent, often at the peak of their careers.

As the menopause conversation opens up, your people are looking for support not only from you – their employer – but from their managers and teams, too.

So, what can you do to help? Here are six things employers should know about menopause.

1. Struggling with menopause symptoms at work can cost women their jobs

Menopause usually begins between the ages of 45 and 55, but symptoms can start as early as in the mid-thirties, during a phase called perimenopause.¹ These are the years when women are likely hitting the peak of their careers – and probably balancing work with their own health and wellbeing needs, and caregiving demands too.

Unfortunately, some working environments are not adequately set up to support women through this challenging life stage – and this can have serious costs. According to Bloomberg, nearly 1 million women in the UK quit their jobs because of menopause symptoms and stigma.²

2. Menopause symptoms impact everyday life

The first step is to understand the symptoms. Menopause can place pressure on physical and mental health and put women at higher risk of anxiety, stress, cardiovascular disease and other health issues due to hormonal changes.¹ Do you know the most common menopause symptoms?

Try to imagine how these symptoms, the pressure to make lifestyle changes, and competing demands from family and work can all add up and take a toll on your female employees. According to the British Menopause Society, 45% of women said the symptoms negatively impacted their ability to carry out tasks.⁴

Women’s health issues are individually debilitating and come at great cost to wider society too. Global productivity losses due to menopause are estimated to cost more than USD $150 billion a year.⁵

3. Menopause can affect younger women too

For some women, menopause can start much earlier than expected – in their 20s, 30s and early 40s. When a woman’s period stops before age 45 it’s labelled 'early menopause’ and before 40, ‘premature menopause’.

‘Surgical menopause’ can also follow a hysterectomy (an operation to remove the uterus along with other reproductive system organs) at any age.⁶ Some types of cancers, treatments for certain diseases and gender-affirming care can also trigger menopause symptoms or force early menopause.⁷

Starting menopause early can cause physical and mental health issues, and when it starts young, it can also cut a woman’s fertility window short.⁸ It’s important for employers to be mindful, that whatever age it begins, menopause can be a physically and emotionally taxing time. Does your company have support systems in place to help women who are struggling?

4. Employers can take action via wellbeing policies

One of the key steps you can take to show women you care about their wellbeing is to introduce policies that directly reflect their needs.

Investing in menopause care can not only provide value for your people now, it can also help you attract top senior talent on the lookout for employers who demonstrate that they value women’s health.

What do these benefits look like? The great news is many will be universally relevant for your wider workforce. For example, mental health services and employee assistance (EAP) programmes, support      employees of all ages and life stages. But many companies are also now exploring fertility, family-building and menopause benefits too, which can be provided to global workforces by companies like our partner, Maven Clinic.^9,10

• Fertility and family-building benefits are rising in popularity among both Gen Z and Millennial employees.¹¹

• And Gen X women say they value benefits packages that provide menopause support.¹¹