Employers are being urged to offer more support in the workplace for people with menopausal symptoms.
It comes after health app, Peppy, analysed Google search terms to find more than 5 million searches for menopause-related terms in total during 2021, which highlights the importance of the issue for women who are working.
It ties in with research from the wellness platform, Gympass, which found 80 percent of menopausal women say they find little empathy or support from their employers.
Concerningly, nearly half of perimenopausal or menopausal women aged 45-64 said they were not able to talk to their bosses about their symptoms. Despite raised awareness and public support, nearly half the women polled felt embarrassed by their symptoms at work and preferred not to mention menopause by name.
Clinical support for menopause in the workplace
Deborah Garlick, CEO of Henpicked – Menopause in the workplace said: “With an increasing focus on menopause generally, more and more people are asking what their employers are doing.”
Ms. Garlic said that many forward-thinking employers have now achieved Menopause Friendly Accreditation, creating workplaces where it’s easy to talk about menopause, offer more awareness and support, as well as training for colleagues and managers.
Other searches that did not mention menopause specifically but were symptom-related such as ‘night sweats women’ and ‘hot flushes at night’, further emphasise the importance of the issue.
Dr. Mridula Pore, CEO of Peppy says this is an opportunity for employers to take care of their employees who are suffering the symptoms of menopause.
She said: “Employers have a great opportunity to step up and provide access to expert, human clinical support for their employees, who are affected by menopause, or those who want to know more in advance.”
Menopause symptoms have an impact on work
According to Peppy, companies that offer menopause support to employees, will be less likely to see absences or a productivity drop.
The experts say the changes that could be made are simple. These include having a quiet breakout room, providing more cool water stations, and offering flexible working hours to help women manage their menopause symptoms at work.
CEO at Gympass UK, Luke Bullen says these efforts are necessary if companies want to retain the experience and talent of mid-life women. “Our research shows 90% of women would be ‘more likely’ or ‘a lot more likely to join or stay at a company that has a menopause support plan.”
Feyaza Khan has been a journalist for more than 20 years in print and broadcast. Her special interests include neurodiversity in the workplace, tech, diversity, trauma and wellbeing.
