I'm posting this in honor of International Women's Day which is Mar. 8.
Oct. 16, 2023"Menopause costs Canada's economy billions: report": Today I found this article by Nisha Patel on CBC:
Earlier this year, Darlene Mulcahey wasn't feeling like herself. She couldn't focus or remember information, and her productivity at work was plunging.
Mulcahey later realized these were symptoms of menopause. But when she brought up the issue with her manager, he told her he didn't know how to help.
"I found myself feeling very alone and without any support at work, so eventually I had to take a leave of absence," she said.
Most women reach menopause between ages 45 and 55. That means two million members of Canada's workforce could be coping with symptoms, and the lack of support may be taking a serious economic toll.
A new report by the Menopause Foundation of Canada suggests missed work days, lower productivity and lost income due to menopause symptoms cost $3.5 billion a year.
The foundation's president, Janet Ko, said many women end up taking time off or quitting altogether, often at the height of their careers.
"We believe that menopause is the missing link to explain why more women aren't breaking through the glass ceiling," she said.
"When women should be earning the most, they're actually stepping back, and that creates, of course, a ripple effect in the economy."
Closing the gap
Almost half of women polled say they are unprepared for menopause, and nearly all report experiencing symptoms such as hot flashes, joint pain and anxiety, according to a national survey by Leger for the Menopause Foundation of Canada.
"I think one of the reasons why it doesn't get talked about is because it's overwhelmingly viewed as negative," Ko said. "It is shrouded in mystery and secrecy because it's wrapped up in ageism."
Employees have a tough time accessing information and support, with 67 per cent of women surveyed saying they would not feel comfortable speaking to their supervisor about their symptoms.
The majority would like to see workplaces offer more support, including medical insurance covering menopause treatments and therapies, options for time off and flexible work, and menopause-awareness sessions for employees.
Ko is calling on big business to step up.
"We don't think this is a heavy lift for employers. We think that having conversations and breaking the taboo is one of the most important things that can be done."
A menopause movement
Around the world, companies are starting to pay more attention to the issue. Adobe, Kellogg's and Bank of America are offering menopause-specific support in a bid to attract and retain female employees.
In Canada, insurance company Sun Life is one major employer taking up the cause. "It's an underserved health gap," said Helena Pagano, chief people and culture officer for the insurer.
"It's a solvable problem if we put some resources and momentum behind it."
Pagano has been hosting employee awareness sessions about menopause and has been overwhelmed by the response, with staff thanking her "for letting us have a conversation that I never thought I would have at work."
Sun Life is also offering benefit coverage for hormone replacement therapy, mental health support and a flexible work environment.
Pagano said what's good for the company will also be good for employees.
"It's going to help the
career success,
personal success,
financial well-being,
health well-being of our people."
After a four-month leave of absence and hormone replacement therapy, Mulcahey is back in the office and feeling better than ever.
She's launched her own menopause initiative: a virtual platform to help others find information like articles and videos. She hopes it will keep more women in the workforce.
"It's very difficult trying to do it alone," she said. "We deserve to be heard, to be seen and to be supported."
With files from Laura MacNaughton
Jan. 11, 2024 "Women always had hot flashes at work, but now they’re done hiding menopause": Today I found this article by Jeannette Neumann and Kelsey Butler on the Financial Post:
Natalia Maureira-Rey was in a meeting with five fellow lawyers in Spain this May when she suddenly started to sweat.
“These hot flashes with menopause, it’s unbelievable,” Maureira-Rey, head of North America corporate legal affairs for Spanish retail group Inditex SA, said to the colleague sitting closest to her. The woman just stood up and walked away. After a few minutes, she returned and handed Maureira-Rey a beautiful Spanish fan. “It really helps,” the colleague told her.
As more senior women start to speak up about what can be a taboo experience of going through menopause, it’s heralding a shift — albeit slowly — across United States companies.
A growing number of employers are offering or planning to introduce specific menopause benefits for their staff,
keen to shrink the US$26.6 billion that the U.S. economy alone sheds each year related to employees managing menopause symptoms,
including US$1.8 billion due to lost productivity and billions more in health expenses.
In a recent analysis of policies at more than 500 companies, 15 per cent of employers said they offer or plan to offer menopause benefits in 2024. That’s up from just four per cent last year. Microsoft Corp., Palantir Technologies Inc., and Abercrombie & Fitch Co. are among U.S. businesses that already include menopause-related services in their policies, including access to specialists and educational resources.
At health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, more than 70 per cent of the company’s employees are women, with an average age of 45.
Combined with the 2.9 million customers it serves across the U.S., the growth in benefits tied to menopause “is a big part of our business opportunity,” chief executive Sarah Iselin told more than 400 employees during a July webinar. In a recording of the session, Iselin shared her personal struggles with common symptoms such as hot flashes and brain fog during her own menopause.
“It still feels like a taboo topic especially at work, and we want to change that,” she said. “We’re starting with ourselves.” Iselin wasn’t immediately available to comment beyond the recording.
Maureira-Rey and Iselin are still in the minority when it comes to speaking up about the issue:
One recent survey by Carrot Fertility, a health benefits company, showed that only four per cent of women in the U.S. have been “very public” about going through menopause.
Still, they’re examples of a growing cohort of women who are likely to be experiencing physical and emotional changes just as they ascend to senior roles across corporate America — the average age for menopause in the U.S. is 52 years old, according to the Menopause Society, a non-profit organization that also publishes a medical journal on the topic. The average age of newly appointed CEOs last year was just under 54 years old, recruiter Spencer Stuart found.
Research shows a link between symptoms related to both menopause and perimenopause — the stage when a woman’s period becomes more irregular, which can start as early as 35 — and a hit to career progression:
One in five senior executives said their symptoms had a negative impact on being hired for a role,
while 31 per cent said their bonus payouts were affected,
according to consulting firm Korn Ferry. The numbers were much lower for women in less senior roles.
Those that do speak out hope to set off a chain reaction that raises awareness and destigmatizes a process that even many women don’t know that much about.
For Maureira-Rey, it was also important to share her experience in part so colleagues understood her brain fog and mental exhaustion were tied to hormonal fluctuations, not her motivation or abilities.
She said she spoke openly to her male boss about what she was going through, and once announced her hot flash to a full conference room during a panel discussion.
“You’re in this great place in your career, but you’re feeling all of these symptoms,” said Maureira-Rey, 48. “I said to myself, ‘Either I can let these folks think whatever they want to think, or I can show up as myself and let them know it’s OK.’”
Women’s health
In the past decade or so, many U.S. companies have come around to recognizing women’s health issues in the workplace, making menstrual products available in restrooms and assigning lactation rooms for breastfeeding mothers.
Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the Menopause Society, said the changes give her some confidence that employers will eventually normalize menopause.
In consultation with other physicians at the Menopause Society, she plans to publish this summer the group’s first set of recommendations that address menopause in the workplace, which will be aimed at educating companies, managers and employees as well as medical professionals.
Small steps such as
giving individual controls over the thermostat to counter hot flashes,
or offering employees more frequent breaks,
are a move in the right direction, she said.
“A lot of it can dovetail into existing policies,” said Faubion, who gave an example of tweaking existing mental-health benefits to make clear that they encompass any psychological challenges tied to menopause. Education is also important, she said.
“Women can’t complain or report symptoms if they don’t even know what they’re related to,” said Faubion, who’s also the director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health.
Many patients with common menopause symptoms such as night sweats, weight gain around the hips and stomach, vaginal dryness, heart palpitations and anxiety have come to see her, worried that something is “seriously wrong,” she said.
Faubion said more companies have been asking her to come speak to employees about menopause.
Several months after her colleague gifted her the fan, Inditex’s Maureira-Rey said she noticed a female executive from a vendor fanning herself with a small piece of paper during a meeting in Washington, D.C. When the meeting ended, Maureira-Rey gave the woman her fan. “I know what you’re going through,” she said, “and it sucks!”
The woman smiled. “We need more people to understand,” she said.
About a decade ago my boss use to talk about them every day. I suggest the cap things that were in style then. She got one and loved it as she could slip it on and off as needed.
PS, since when did women not talk about it?
because nobody has ever had to listen to woman talk about her hot flashes every day
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