Experts have warned that failing to offer support to women suffering from menopause symptoms such as anxiety, depression, extreme fatigue and brain fog could end up costing businesses dearly.
Irish workplaces have to catch up and implement menopause policies to avoid possible damage to companies and an exodus of female staff to which no support is offered.
This is the warning from Claire Loftus, former director of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, who will speak in Dublin at the second edition of the National Menopause Workplace Excellence Awards.
This contest was created to recognize companies’ efforts to help women suffering from symptoms such as hormonal fluctuations, anxiety, sleeping difficulties, lack of concentration and memory failures.
Ms Loftus told Irish broadcaster RTE: “Any scenario where such enormous assets are at risk, as the data shows, of leaving the workforce or reducing their working hours, simply because of menopause symptoms, It is potentially detrimental to an organization and to the business“.
It is estimated that Women of menopausal age represent 11% of the G7 workforcethe group of the seven largest economies in the world. Given that the European and world population is agingthis trend is expected to continue and increase further.
Meanwhile, in the UK alone, one in 20 women who have gone through menopause has stopped working as a result and one in 25 say they have reduced their hours due to related difficulties, according to a recent study by online investment platform AJ Bell.
Workplace health provider Simplyhealth presented similar figures in its 2023 research, finding that almost a quarter (23%) of UK women have considered stopping work due to symptoms.
What can companies do to help staff?
In 2023, the London-based Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD) surveyed more than 2,000 women aged 40 to 60, and found that companies had written policies and support networks, but in reality what the most needed the staff was flexible working and the ability to control your body temperature in the workplace.
Almost a fifth of the workers wanted menstrual leave (20%) and menopause (18%).
In 2023, only a quarter of UK companies had a menopause policybut only 9% of women who needed it had access to menopause leave.
Planned flexible working was available in almost half of the companies (44%) as part of their menopause support, according to another report, ‘Health and wellbeing at work’*, from CIPD and Simplyhealth.
What is the potential loss that companies face?
If women have to stop working or reduce your hours due to these symptoms, the potential damage to businesses could be significant.
Harvard Business Review cited a 2022 report by the British menopause support app Balance, which estimated a staggering £10 billion (€12 billion) in Menopause-related business losses in the UK only.
A similar estimate from the Mayo Clinic put the same cost for American companies at 26 billion dollars (23.8 billion euros) annually. ‘Bloomberg’ reported in 2021 that global productivity losses due to menopause could reach 150 billion dollars (137.2 billion euros) per year.
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