Health Challenges

Navigating Menopause at Work

Facing the Challenges of Mid-life

You’ve worked hard to get where you are in your career. You’ve pushed through imposter syndrome, nerve-wracking pay negotiations, and male-dominated leadership teams–and finally, you feel like you’re actually making it.

Now you’re dealing with an entirely new challenge: the menopause transition.

You’ve got hot flashes and night sweats. Your mood swings from elation to trepidation to depression and back again. Your brain feels like it’s wrapped in cotton balls, and your short-term memory feels…unreliable.

If you’re like many of your peers, you might also be juggling heavy family responsibilities: wrangling children, caring for aging parents, or both. If you left work temporarily to care for dependents, you might feel like you’re still playing catch-up in your career.

Senior executive woman working late
Woman giving a presentation

The Many Symptoms of Menopause

Working women in menopause commonly report the following work-related difficulties: 1,2

  • Reduced work productivity (Alzueta, 2024, US)
  • Difficulty concentrating, often called “brain fog” (Metcalf, 2023, US/CA)
  • Impaired short-term memory (Metcalf)
  • Daytime fatigue, often related to sleep disruptions (Metcalf)
  • Sudden hot flashes (Metcalf)

Sound familiar?

Most women and people assigned female at birth will experience physical, mental, and emotional symptoms during their menopause transition.2 The intensity and effects of these symptoms vary from person to person, but nearly everyone encounters some difficulty coping.

Over 75% of menopausal people report challenges at work due to their symptoms.1

If you’re struggling with these and other symptoms of menopause, you aren’t alone. If you’re unsure how to handle these symptoms at work: you’re in good company:

Two-thirds

The proportion of women who state they would be uncomfortable discussing their menopause symptoms at work.3

2 in 5

The proportion of women who found or considered seeking a new job due to their menopause symptoms.3

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References

  1. Alzueta, E., Menghini, L., Volpe, L., Baker, F. C., Garnier, A., Sarrel, P. M., & De Zambotti, M. (2024). Navigating menopause at work: a preliminary study about challenges and support systems. Menopause, 31(4), 258–265. Alzueta
  2. Metcalf, C. A., Duffy, K. A., Page, C. E., & Novick, A. M. (2023). Cognitive Problems in Perimenopause: A Review of Recent Evidence. Current psychiatry reports, 25(10), 501–511. Metcalf
  3. EMPACT Menopause Study Bulletin – Society for Women’s Health Research. (2024, June 3). Society for Women’s Health Research. EMPACT
  4. Halliwell, P. R., Mitchell, R. J., & Boyle, B. (2023). Leadership effectiveness through coaching: Authentic and change-oriented leadership. PloS one, 18(12), e0294953. Halliwell
  5. Nicolau, A., Candel, O. S., Constantin, T., & Kleingeld, A. (2023). The effects of executive coaching on behaviors, attitudes, and personal characteristics: a meta-analysis of randomized control trial studies. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. Nicolau

Disclaimer: This one-pager offers a summary of key topics in women's health, supported by research data and sources. It is intended for general informational purposes only and does not replace detailed academic studies. For more comprehensive and detailed insights, please refer to the original research cited.