Happy World Menopause Day! The PlayFair Steps celebrates World Menopause Day every year on the 18th October, with a particular focus on Menopause in the Workplace, and how this impacts staff in ISG.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) ran a survey of working women aged 40 to 60 in early October 2023, and 67% of the respondents said their experience of menopausal symptoms had a negative effect on them at work. Over half (53%) said they could think of a time where they couldn’t go to work due to these symptoms. Further, in the UK, one in ten women who worked during the menopause said they left a job due to their symptoms. This is a huge loss of talent from the workforce, and only serves to exacerbate existing gender gaps, whether that’s the pay gap, pension gap, or the number of women in senior roles.

In fact, only 24% of those surveyed said their organisation had a stated menopause policy or other support measures in place. The University of Edinburgh now has a category for menopause when requesting sick leave, and provides some guidance webpages.

The PlayFair Steps have run two workshops this year about Menopause in the Workplace, discussing why menopause is a workplace issue. The workshops look at how the University of Edinburgh can apply good practice from other institutions and discuss plans and policies which may tackle the taboo surrounding the menopause. The lack of awareness and data surrounding menopause must be corrected, in order to stop the menopause from being yet another leak in the pipeline for the progression of women’s careers.

(By K Grieve, CC0.)