With women ages 45 to 64 making up over 17% of the U.S. labor force, but only 15% of U.S. companiesoffering menopause benefits, employers that invest in menopause support can gain a competitive advantage in recruiting, retaining, and advancing talented women into leadership positions.Women ages 45 to 64 make up about 17.5% of the U.S. labor force, according to Department of Labor data.
Over 87% of women in the Biote survey had not spoken to their employer about their menopause symptoms. Their primary concerns were about stigma and lack of support. Nearly 65% of the women said their workplace lacked menopause accommodations. With inadequate support, missed work days due to menopause symptoms cause an estimated $1.8 billion of annual economic loss in the U.S., according to a
Yet women often forego or are denied career advancement opportunities because of menopause-related challenges. In the Biote survey, one out of four women felt their career development or work-related opportunities had been impacted by menopause symptoms. This is “a potentially unrecognized reason for the leaky leadership pipeline and the paucity of women in senior leadership positions,” according to the Mayo Clinic researchers.
Supporting menopause is both a retention and a recruiting tool. Nearly one in five women have considered changing jobs for better menopause support, and 22% would consider retiring early because of menopause symptoms, according to aof 1000 female employees ages 40 to 55. Nearly six out of ten women in the Biote survey said that when considering an employer, it would be important that the company expressed a commitment to support employees through menopause.