Menopause support helps attract and retain top talent

Organizations have been taking creative approaches to their talent attraction and retention strategies, such as offering unlimited paid time off and four-day work weeks. However, supporting employees experiencing the menopause transition has been an overlooked strategy to obtain and foster highly skilled talent. Our survey of 2,892 full-time employees from eight countries who are either currently experiencing menopause or recently finished experiencing it¹ highlights how menopause impacts attraction and retention and what organizations can do about it.

Menopausal women are the fastest growing demographic in the workforce, but they lack the organizational support necessary to manage this natural life transition.² Indeed, 84% of our survey respondents agreed that more menopause support is needed in the workplace.

These employees are typically highly skilled and at the peak of their careers since menopause usually coincides with progression into senior leadership roles. However, without the appropriate support, menopause symptoms can impair productivity and well-being for employees at a key stage in their career.

Almost all respondents (91%) experienced at least one moderate to extremely severe menopause symptoms. More than one-third (37%) of respondents said that their menopause symptoms negatively affect their work performance sometimes, often, or always, with the most common symptoms being sleep changes (67%), physical exhaustion (66%), mental exhaustion (62%), and hot flashes (60%). Menopausal employees who work in organizations that do not provide support to help manage these symptoms can end up leaving the organization.

Is a lack of menopause support impacting my talent pipeline?

A lack of menopause support can impact an organization’s talent pipeline by driving prospective talent to other organizations that do offer it.

Seven out of 10 respondents (74%) agreed that they would be more likely to apply for a job at a company that offers perimenopause and menopause support than at a company that does not. In addition, 1 in 10 employees (12%) said that they have declined a job opportunity because of a lack of support for employees going through menopause.

Menopause support can also impact talent retention: 13% of respondents said they are planning on leaving their job and 12% reported they have quit a job because of lack of support for perimenopause and menopause. Though these numbers may seem small, it is important to remember that employees going through menopause are usually in senior roles with specialized knowledge that can be very hard and costly to replace.

Overall, these findings demonstrate that menopause support is an important factor in employee decisions to join or leave a company and companies that support employees going through the menopause transition will be better positioned to win the war for talent.

Lack of menopause support can impact workplace diversity

A lack of support for employees experiencing menopause can impede an organization’s ability to retain employees from marginalized racial and ethnic groups.

Compared to White employees, employees from marginalized racial and ethnic groups report higher rates of turnover intentions,³ quitting,⁴ and declined job opportunities⁵ because of a lack of menopause support.

Indigenous Peoples report the highest rates: 29% plan on leaving their job,⁶ 35% have quit a job,⁷ and 30% declined job opportunities because of lack of menopause support.⁸

These data show that companies committed to increasing racial and ethnic diversity must make menopause support a priority or they will struggle to retain menopausal employees from marginalized racial and ethnic groups.

Break the menopause barrier to retain women at senior leadership levels

Across all ages, most respondents said that menopause support would make a company more attractive. However, employees aged 40-50 years old were more attracted to companies that offer menopause support (79%) than employees over 50 (71%).¹⁵

Compared to employees aged 51-75 years old, employees aged 40-50 years old report higher rates of turnover intentions (16% vs 12%),¹⁶ quitting (15% vs 9%),¹⁷ and declined job opportunities because of lack of menopause support (14% vs 9%).¹⁸ These data suggest that if organizations want to attract and retain women at senior leadership levels, they must ensure that menopause does not become a barrier for women looking to rise into or continue in leadership positions.

• Dig into the data. Examine your exit survey and retention data for any patterns. Are employees of menopausal age leaving at higher rates than other groups? Does gender diversity decrease as you go up the organizational chart? Is lack of support for well-being or menopause mentioned in exit interviews? Take stock of any patterns and use the data to inform a retention strategy that helps the organization keep top talent through the menopause life stage.
• Advertise.

  If your organization offers policies to support employees experiencing menopause (e.g., flexible work) and benefits (e.g., health coverage of menopause-related therapies or treatments) consider mentioning this in job postings particularly for senior leadership positions to help attract a more gender-diverse pool of applicants.

How to cite: Robotham, K. & Smith, E. (2024). Menopause support helps attract and retain top talent. Catalyst.

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Endnotes

1. We surveyed 2,892 full-time employees in a variety of industries, with top representation from business and professional services (n = 151), education (n = 372), finance, banking and insurance (n = 185), government and military (n = 183), healthcare and medical (n = 455), manufacturing (n = 201), and retail (n = 184) industries in Canada (n = 569), the United Kingdom (n = 641), the United States (n = 647), Australia (n = 520), France (n = 107), Germany (n = 157), the Netherlands (n = 90), and Sweden (n = 161). Our sample was mostly cisgender women (100%, n = 2,868) with some representation of other genders (<1%, n = 8). Almost half of the respondents were White (48%, n = 1,110) and our sample included representation from other racial and ethnic identities as well (e.g., Asian, Black, Indigenous, Latine, Middle Eastern or North African (MENA), or multiracial employees; 52%, n = 1,214). Most respondents identified as heterosexual/straight (90%, n = 2,535), and our sample represented other sexual identities as well (e.g., asexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, pansexual, or queer employees; 10%, n = 282). Almost half of the respondents were between the age of 40-50 years (45%, n = 1,305), and the rest were between the age of 51-79 years (55%, n = 1,587). Note that participants could skip demographic questions, so totals may not equal 100% or total sample size.
2. How does menopause affect women in the workplace and what can we do to support them? (April 28, 2023).World Economic Forum.
3. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they are planning on leaving their job because of lack of menopause support differed significantly by race, Χ² (1) = 31.87, p < .001.
4. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they have quit a job because of lack of menopause support differed significantly by race, Χ² (1) = 35.16, p <.001.
5. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they have declined a job opportunity because of lack of menopause support differed significantly by race, Χ² (1) = 31.54, p < .001.
6. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they are planning on leaving their job because of lack of menopause support differed significantly by race, Χ² (5) = 59.14, p < .001. Examination of adjusted residuals revealed that Indigenous Peoples (5.2) differed significantly from what was expected.
7. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they have quit a job because of lack of menopause support differed significantly by race, Χ² (5) = 86.61, p <.001. Examination of adjusted residuals revealed that Indigenous Peoples (8.1) differed significantly from what was expected.
8. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they have declined a job opportunity because of lack of menopause support differed significantly by race, Χ² (5) = 67.68, p < .001. Examination of adjusted residuals revealed that Indigenous Peoples (6.5) differed significantly from what was expected.
9. Respondents were categorized as White if they self-identified as White and no other racial or ethnic group.
10. Respondents were categorized as Black if they self-identified as African, African American, Afro Canadian, Afro Central American, Afro South American, Black, West Indian, Caribbean, Black biracial, or another Black racial or ethnic group in Australia, Canada, the UK, or the US.
11. Respondents were categorized as Asian if they self-identified as Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Pakistani, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, South Asian, Southeast Asian, Northeast Asian, Bangladeshi, Asian biracial, or another Asian racial or ethnic group in Australia, Canada, the UK, or the US.
12. Respondents were categorized as Latine if they self-identified as Central American, Cuban, Dominican, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South American, Spanish, Latin American, or another Latin American racial or ethnic group in Australia, Canada, the UK, or the US.
13. Respondents were categorized as Indigenous if they self-identified as an Alaskan Native, Indigenous, Native American, Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, or another Indigenous racial or ethnic group in Australia, Canada, the UK, or the US.
14. Respondents were categorized as Middle Eastern or North African (MENA) if they self-identified as Arab, Armenian, Iranian, MENA, Turkish, or another MENA racial or ethnic group.
15. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they would be more likely to apply for a job at a company that offers menopause support differed significantly by age, Χ² (1) = 28.12, p <.001.
16. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they are planning on leaving their job because of a lack of menopause support differed significantly by age, Χ² (1) = 10.05, p < .002.
17. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they have quit their job because of a lack of menopause support differed significantly by age, Χ² (1) = 24.40, p < .001.
18. A chi-square analysis revealed that the percentage of people who report that they have declined a job opportunity because of a lack of menopause support differed significantly by age, Χ² (1) = 16.54, p < .001.