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Ultimate Guide To Menopause In the Workplace

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Ultimate Guide To Menopause In the Workplace

50 million women are currently navigating menopause in the US. While this transition is a universal female experience, it's shrouded in stigma, shame, and secrecy — and it's affecting our personal and professional lives.


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    How menopause impacts women in the workplace

    Every day, over 50 million women are navigating menopause in the workforce. But how does it actually impact their professional lives?

    Research shows that ⅗ menopausal women are afflicted by symptoms at work (Bloomberg, 2022) with ⅓ women considering leaving their job due to menopause. (Guardian, 2021) What’s more, menopause-related productivity losses cost companies up to $810 billion a year. (Bloomberg, 2022)

    To better understand the current experience of menopausal women at work, Elektra surveyed 2,000 professional women in the United States, age 40-55, including managers, directors, and C-suite executives. Here’s what we found:

    • 20% of women have left or considered leaving a job due to their menopause symptoms
    • 33% of women say menopause negatively affects their work performance
    • 44% of women feel they do not receive enough menopause support from their employers

    Interested in learning more? View the full report.

    Resources & guides to help you support the health & wellness of your female employees

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    About menopause

    About the way menopause impacts women in the workplace

    Take action

    Elektra Health co-founder & CEO Alessandra Henderson authored an article in Fast Company outlining three concrete ways leaders can make employees feel like their health and wellness isn’t overlooked.

     

    1. Embrace transition
      People aren’t stagnant, so we should stop treating employees as such. Menopause is a major life transformation that is unique and individualized. Employers should talk to their workforce, hear how their lives are changing, and see how they can enact policies that support and embrace their transition. Provide employee education, encourage speaking out, host ERG events and manager training, and fully integrate this into your company at every level.
    2. Create thoughtful confidentiality 
      Creating a safe harbor is important. The way employers do this is by providing a confidential direct line to HR, senior management, or an independent third party, so they can provide employees with educational materials and/or a support group to help address the topic with sensitivity.
    3. Commit to environmental changes and plan for the future
      Oftentimes, it’s necessary to rethink work policies for the sake of making your employees comfortable throughout the different stages of their lives and careers. And this change doesn’t need to be a huge undertaking. Something as simple as making the physical environment more comfortable can make a big impact. When surveying our employees, a reoccurring complaint was that desks were too hot. We were able to implement a new desk fan policy that almost immediately relieved this issue. It was an attainable and affordable alteration that did wonders for the comfort and health of our workforce.  

    How Elektra can support your efforts to bring menopause awareness & benefits into the workplace

    Leading organizations support women in the workplace at every stage of life with the help of Elektra.

    Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

    Elektra has hosted ERGs at companies like LVMH and Reddit. All are welcome: people in menopause, the menopause-curious, and anyone who agrees that it’s time to bring menopause out of the shadows.

    What employees gain:

    • An overview of the science, symptoms, and what to expect
    • Insight into evidence-based treatment, tips, and tools
    • A safe space for discussion and Q&A

    Sponsored access to the Elektra platform as a benefit

    Our first–of-its-kind menopause wellness platform combines evidence-based education, 1:1 support, and a private community of women.

    • Education
      Access evidence-based readings & recommendations on top menopausal symptoms (sleep, sex, hot flashes & more).
    • Care
      Get paired 1:1 with an Elektra Guide to ask questions & build a personalized wellness plan.
    • Community
      Join virtual events with menopause experts & weekly group check-ins with fellow members.
    • Conversation
      Stay up to date on the latest menopause news, participate in discussions & get inspired.

    Interested in learning more? Get in touch with a member of Elektra.