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Menopause stigma means tech is losing female talent

Tech needs midlife women

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Tech needs midlife women

Supporting midlife women in tech through menopause can help bridge the skills gap and enhance DEI credentials.

Midlife can be the time when women choose to hit the career accelerator, tapping into the precious mental and physical energy freed up by children growing out of those challenging early years and into young adulthood. But there remains a considerable challenge that every woman will encounter around this time, and it can be quite the career spoiler.

The menopause, on average, affects women in their early 50s, but perimenopause symptoms can begin years earlier. As well as the better-known symptoms like hot flushes and mood swings, women in menopause and perimenopause often suffer from serious sleep disturbances, causing stress and anxiety, depression, forgetfulness and brain fog.

Research published last autumn by the financial software vendor Intuit QuickBooks showed that 22% of women experiencing menopausal symptoms had delayed or cancelled plans to go for a promotion, and 48% of the 45 - 55 year old age group would not disclose that they were suffering to an employer.

Symptoms such as insomnia can have a serious impact on confidence and performance at work, and it's not uncommon for women to consider resigning as a result.

On a personal level the loss of so many women from the sector is a desperate waste of talent and energy. Beyond the personal, at a time when digital skills are so hotly contested and the costs of recruiting an employee with that level of experience are higher than ever, it's also an expensive mistake for employers to let these women go.

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Sophie Creese, MotherBoard

Losing midlife women from the workplace also detrimentally effects a firms DEI credentials, at a time when employers are increasingly brandishing these credentials to attract younger workers. It also makes it even harder for companies to build more diverse leadership teams. Maternity policies are often well thought out, and support for returning mothers is improving, albeit slowly. But the focus on maternity and early years support, whilst welcome, isn't enough, as Sophie Creese, Founder of Business charter, community and event series MotherBoard explains:

"To create long-term positive change for women working in the tech industry, leaders must focus on the entire span of a woman's career, not just the early years. As businesses continue to focus on hiring more women into their tech teams, they also need to ensure women are not penalised simply for being women. By introducing an exhaustive Reproductive Health Policy business will help remove the stigma around reproductive wellness including menopause, and ensure the environment is set up to provide long-term careers, which will result in retaining women within the tech industry and holding leadership roles."

Don't wait for government to catch up

Tech employers shouldn't wait for a steer from government when it comes to supporting their female employees. Such a waste of talent should concern everybody with an interest in the growth of the tech sector and its critical role in the wider economy. Whilst we learned yesterday that government has accepted some of the recommendations of a report by the cross-party Women and Equalities Committee into menopause and the workplace, it has rejected the reports main recommendations, partly because it is concerned about discrimination towards men.

Key among these recommendations was a large-scale pilot of menopause leave, and that menopause be classified as a protected characteristic under the 2010 Equalities Act.

Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee, Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP, said:

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Menopause stigma means tech is losing female talent

Supporting midlife women in tech through menopause can help bridge the skills gap and enhance DEI credentials.

"For too long women have faced stigma, shame and dismissive attitudes when it comes to menopause. The evidence to our inquiry was crystal clear that urgent action was needed across healthcare and work settings to properly address women's needs, yet Government progress has been glacial and its response complacent.

"Its refusal to even consult on reforming equalities law doesn't make sense and we urge it to look again."

Laura Meyer, who was CIO of publisher HarperCollins for a decade before leaving last year to focus on Angel investing, co-founded and co-chaired the "Menopause in the workplace" network at the company. She commented:

"I would say that MP Caroline Nokes makes a crucial point when she says that the rejection is 'a missed opportunity to protect vast numbers of talented and experienced women from leaving the workforce, and leaves me unconvinced that menopause is a government priority'. This has also come at a time when it has been reported that healthcare for women in Britain ranks lower than that offered in China and Saudi Arabia."

Fortunately, some employers are well ahead of the government on this issue. Alex Foster, Director Division X at BT, thinks that the slow erosion of taboos around menopause can only have a beneficial effects for women and their employers.

"At BT we've got some really phenomenal programmes about understanding the menopause, making sure that managers know how to have the conversation, that our gender and equality network talk about it.

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Alex Foster, BT

Foster gives an example of how this can work in practice.

"A woman I was mentoring said, ‘I think I've got to leave', and I asked why. She said, ‘Oh, well, I've got brain fog, I can't think, you know', and I said to her, ‘Well, quite clearly it sounds like you're going through the menopause'. I recommended that she take the next couple of weeks off, go see a doctor. I said, ‘This is a personal decision about whether you take HRT or not, but sort yourself out before you make a decision to leave the organisation'."

Four weeks later she came back, she was on HRT, and actually, she stayed in the business and was so glad she didn't bolt. Not only has that woman returned to the organisation, but she has subsequently just had a promotion as well. It's just fantastic."

I think that's the thing that can make a difference in terms of managers having that education about recognising the signs of menopause, understanding what can be done, and how we can help employees. And then it means that those employees stay in the workforce."

Small changes, big payoff

Laura Meyer reflects on some of the achievements of the "Menopause in the workplace," network that she co-founded.

"It started as a forum and a support group really for women who were going through this. A lot of it was about sharing information but what we also did was to find out what women wanted. One thing was a specific menopause policy and we did that. Women also wanted awareness training for managers - men and also younger women. We also ran educational sessions, we had guests come in to talk about subjects like nutrition, and the options for women who couldn't take HRT."

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Laura Meyer

Meyer remains understandably proud of the network she helped to build which remains in place. Providing a space for women to share experiences of perimenopause and menopause is vital, because it can help women to understand when symptoms such as anxiety, depression or insomnia have been misdiagnosed. Plenty of women experiencing issues like anxiety or depression have consulted GPs about their symptoms, only to walk away with a prescription for anti-depressants. The more women talk to each other about their experiences the less this happens.

"We were also one of the first companies to sign the Menopause in the workplace pledge which we did in 2021."

Many more employers went on to follow early signatories to the pledge like HarperCollins and BT, and 2022 saw a big rush of employers signing up, including lots of retailers, banks and law firms. Indeed, even though Meyer agrees that the recent decision by the government not to accept the key recommendations of the Equalities Committee report is disappointing, she does note that some employers are being more proactive.

"On a positive note, more than 2,000 employers have signed the Wellbeing of Women Menopause Workplace Pledge. Employers should sign the pledge and take positive action to make sure everyone going through the menopause is supported."

However, relatively few tech companies have signed up despite the fact that the actual policy changes required are relatively small scale. Meyer explains:

"It's about support and making workplace adjustments to ease symptoms without embarrassment. Proving a small desk fan would be an example, reminding people that they can step away from their desk, reminding people of occupational health, flexible working options. It's about women knowing that they are supported by their employers and about educating all employees about the menopause and the support needed."

By providing support which costs little, tech employers can reduce attrition, enhance DEI profile and hold on to skills which are more valuable than they have ever been.