More than half of employers have seen an increase in demand for menopause support services over the past two years, according to Peppy.
A survey of 504 HR decision makers carried out last month, found 55% of employers have seen demand for menopause support increase in the past two years, with 63% saying the same over a five-year period.
Of those employers who did offer menopause support, 89% expected the organisation to be more attractive to staff of menopause age looking for jobs, and a similar percentage (88%) expected to be better able to retain staff of menopausal age.
However, 38% of employers said staff had left their organisation due to menopause symptoms.
And two thirds (64%) said their organisation had experienced staff taking time off sick because of menopause-related symptoms – of these, 32% said it happened quite a few times and half said it was a couple of times.
The research also showed that over a third (36%) of employers felt they were behind the curve, or it was not even on their radar, when it came to offering menopause support.
This data breaks down as:
- 17% of HR leaders thought that their organisation was a ‘little’ bit behind others in terms of the support they offer,
- 6% believed that they were ‘way behind’ others,
- 13% said that menopause support was not on their radar or something they are particularly interested in offering at present.
Of the types of support on offer to menopausal employees, mental wellbeing support targeted at midlife women was the most common (37%).
This was followed by:
- Healthy lifestyle support for midlife women (i.e. fitness, nutrition) (35%),
- Information on the company or employee benefits portal (31%),
- More general employee benefits that include some menopause support (31%),
- Training for line managers or board on menopause issues (31%).
And the areas of menopause support set for the biggest growth in the next 12 months, according to HR professionals were:
- Information on the company or employee benefits portal (26%),
- Training for line managers or the board on menopause issues (25%),
- In-person menopause support groups (23%),
- More general employee benefits that include some menopause support (22%),
- Training and information targeted at male colleagues about menopause issues (21%),
- Mental wellbeing support targeted at midlife women (21%).
Menopause support is now a priority
Kathy Abernethy, director of menopause services at Peppy said: “Organisations are witnessing an increased demand for menopause support from their staff and we don’t see this trend slowing anytime soon.
“We have conversations with employers who might not have considered budgeting for menopause support in the past or thought their more general employee benefits provision was adequate; however, they now realise that they must prioritise this type of specialist support.
“Many early adopters offered menopause support because they wanted to do the right thing, and recognised the impact of not doing so, and others are now quickly following suit as they can’t afford to be an outlier in their industry.
“Either way – employees will benefit from a greater number of organisations offering them support. Those who don’t get up to speed with offering support are likely to suffer as a consequence.”
According to Abernethy, businesses are directly affected when staff take absence or leave the business altogether because of menopause-related issues.
“Individuals benefit when they’re supported, and it’s also in the interest of the company to look after this important demographic, to reduce absence and keep people at work,” she continued.
And Abernethy added there were clear benefits of providing menopause support for employers and their employees, as well as very real ramifications of not doing so.
“Menopause support is not a trending employee benefit or a fad that will disappear next year. There are over 15 million women in employment and nearly a third of those are over 50, so employers need to recognise their needs.
“Menopause needs to be treated in the same way as any other specialist support needed within the workplace – especially if employers are serious about recruiting, retaining and promoting this demographic.”