A new study exclusively obtained by HLTH reveals the menopause benefits that may actually move the needle on supporting women’s whole health and retaining top talent.
Women have long entered menopause without a rulebook.
Several years ago, I reported on the silent crisis of confidence facing executive women at the pinnacle of their careers, many of whom say they felt like they were “firing on all cylinders” when menopause came out of nowhere. Today, while midlife health is finally getting more attention online, it’s clear that awareness is only the first step.
Most medical schools lack training on the hormonal transition 51% of the population goes through. Research and policy have yet to produce clear, viable treatment pathways. And many don’t feel their workplaces support this transition. This lack of education, policy, and care is exacerbated by a culture that has made women feel shame for aging. Employers need to pay attention.
“You're losing institutional knowledge by not creating a workplace where your employees can give their all,” Syreen Goulmamine, the associate director for research, translation, and programs at the Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR), tells HLTH.
A new study released today by the Society for Women’s Health Research and The Fuchsia Tent, found that workplace solutions are closer than many employers assume. The study surveyed over 1,000 employees, both women and men, and held roundtable discussions across four cities.
The study, shared exclusively with HLTH U.S., found it may not be a new supplement stack or menopause-specific consumer health product that employers need to tack on to their benefit offerings. Benefits that support a woman's midlife health could range from flexible work policies to musculoskeletal support and behavioral health care. The symptoms of menopause can affect everything from sleep and mood to musculoskeletal and cardiovascular health.
“For a person experiencing menopause, these symptoms don't come at you in an organized fashion,” Kacy Fleming, Founder and CEO of The Fuchsia Tent, tells HLTH. “It's a full neuroendocrinological transition that affects every organ system in the body.” She says employers often start thinking about the women in their own families once it's framed that way, rather than as a fertility issue alone.
Nearly three-quarters of women, 74%, cited flexible scheduling or remote options as a menopause support tool they would use, followed by coverage for menopause prescriptions, confidential telehealth or virtual care and workplace adjustments. While over half said they have some of these benefits, fewer than 10% said they have menopause-specific benefits.
“It was really eye-opening to see that these things already exist in these organizations. They just need to be marketed or packaged in a different way to reach the intended audience,” says Goulmamine.
The stakes are high. The study found that one in three women who reported or suspected symptoms of menopause considered leaving their job or cutting hours, while nearly half, 44%, say a company’s menopause-related benefits would influence their decision to take a job.
Nearly 45% of women don't know whether their company offers menopause-specific benefits. Interestingly enough, the decision makers are nearly three and a half times more likely to think their company offers menopause support than the non-decision makers. Leaders think they have already solved a problem, but employees haven’t seen a solution.
What’s more, the cost of ignoring this physiological reality doesn’t just hurt women. A widely cited Mayo Clinic report found that lost work and medical spending due to untreated menopause symptoms amounts to $26.6 billion annually. It’s why many argue that care and support need to start in the workplace.
Beyond a benefit package hidden in a new hire’s orientation package, it's also critical to help employers and leadership have the tools to market their offerings and support their employees in using them.
The survey pointed to the power of a strong company culture. Ninety percent of women and over 70% of men say they are comfortable responding if a colleague raises how the menopause transition affects their work. Still, putting the onus on women to disclose when systems haven’t improved is shortsighted. While 53% of women who personally reported or have suspected symptoms of menopause say they’d be comfortable telling a manager, less than a quarter have done so.
Dr. Allyson Augusta Shrikhande, the Chief Medical Officer and Co-founder of Pelvic Rehabilitation Medicine, says women often assume symptoms associated with menopause are a “normal part of aging” to have to trudge through. “These symptoms are common, but they aren't inevitable, and many are treatable once someone evaluates what's actually driving them, whether that's tissue changes, muscle spasm, or nerve pain,” she says.
For Dr. Suzanne Gilberg, Co-Founder and Chief Clinical Officer of Monarch, patients aren't getting the right education and are also exhausted from hiding the reality of what they’re going through. Many women who come to her also fear their competence will be in question if they bring menopause up at work.
“I cannot tell you how many brilliant women sit in my office terrified they are developing early-onset dementia because they’re suddenly losing their keys or forgetting names mid-sentence,” Gilberg says, noting that a misconception that menopause is solely hot flashes has led to pervasive anxiety across women who feel a range of symptoms, including cognitive effects.
People who don’t know whether or not their company has support for them often don’t feel comfortable finding out.
“We're not protected in the workplace yet with menopause,” says Fleming. “If we're waiting for people to disclose before we provide care, we've already failed the system. It’s about fixing the system and the way that we communicate and how we share the benefits, so that people don't have to proactively come forward because our data shows they won't.”
Fleming and Goulmamine say a win in this space can happen when decision-makers see menopause as a transition that affects women’s whole health in a myriad ways, and outline the varied interventions that are needed to support their talent for the long haul.
"We've been really focused or hyper focused on life stages, like pregnancy in the workplace, or ‘a condition’ in the workplace. I would love to see the discussion change to wellness in the workplace,” says Goulmamine.
The benefits, in many cases, are already on the books. The open question is whether employers will make them visible before the women they were built for walk out the door.
For conversations on women’s health and employers, join me at HLTH USA 2026 in Las Vegas.