Menopausal women say they’re perceived as less productive and emotionally stable at work

As more women are remaining in the workforce well into their fifties, a cottage industry of startups has cropped up to help support them through the experience of menopause.

There are products that claim to address symptoms like hot flashes and hair loss, while others have the more ambitious goal of staving off menopause or mitigating its effect on fertility. Some companies are focused on providing medical care to those facing menopause, who they believe are underserved by traditional healthcare.

The proliferation of these companies has also raised awareness about how menopause can impact working individuals, in particular—and workers themselves have started asking for menopause-related benefits.

Lack of Benefits

Even so, the majority of workplaces have been slow to embrace the issue: The latest edition of an annual survey by the menopause care startup Bonafide finds that most workers still lack any kind of accommodations as they approach (and experience) menopause. The survey polled over 2,000 perimenopausal and menopausal women, 76% of whom said their workplace has no accommodations for issues related to menopause.

But it’s clear that many would like to see that change: More than half of respondents said they wanted better workplace accommodations for menopause. According to the survey, women are seeing the effects of menopause on their careers, perhaps in part because of the stigma that persists when it comes to discussing the topic both in and out of the workplace.

Workplace Stigma

Almost half of the respondents said that menopause had impacted their performance at work—and that they felt menopausal women were perceived as “less productive or emotionally stable.” A significant number of respondents (42%) also felt like the symptoms of menopause had taken a toll on their ambition.

The survey also seems to indicate that younger women—those experiencing perimenopause and early symptoms of menopause—might face some of the greatest hurdles. Those under 50 were more likely to report feeling “hopeless” and inadequately prepared to deal with the onset of menopause. The impact on job performance was also 27% higher for women under 50.

With millennials now accounting for the majority of the workforce—and many workers clamoring for menopause-related benefits—employers are more likely to embrace workplace accommodations for menopause in the years to come.