Menopause strains workforce with some women planning to quit

ALMOST a fifth of the female workforce who are experiencing the menopause are considering leaving their jobs, a survey shows.

The study commissioned by the childcare service Koru Kids showed that most women don’t get any support at work for their symptoms, and almost a quarter of them aged are unhappy in their jobs because of it. About 18% are thinking about quitting all together, the survey of 2,000 women between the ages of 45 to 67 showed.

“Women should never be pushed out of the workplace because of their biology,” said Rachel Carrell, the founder of Koru Kids. “We need to support older women with flexible working and health support so they don’t fall out of the workplace needlessly.”

The symptoms caused by menopause and the time leading up to it, perimenopause, include loss of sleep, mood swings, and flashes. They can be so debilitating that it has a bigger impact on women’s careers than anything else except having children.

It also adds to strains on the UK labor market, where job vacancies are going unfilled because of a shortage of qualified staff, increasing wages and concerns about inflation.

Women looking to quit listed pressure along with not being able to work flexibly and a lack of understanding from management as the key reasons they wanted to leave.

Fully 63% of the women surveyed who were going through menopause said that their employer hadn’t introduced any policy to support those struggling with symptoms. An even higher proportion of those who had taken time off because of their symptoms hadn’t told their employer the real reason why. — Bloomberg