Why Tech Needs To Support Women In Menopause
Brain fog leading to poor concentration, tiredness, low mood and reduced or lowered confidence: these are all symptoms of menopause that affect women at work.
A CIPD survey of 1,409 women experiencing menopause symptoms was led by YouGov and found that 59% of working women between the ages of 45 and 55 who are experiencing menopause symptoms said that it has a negative impact on them at work.
Women over the age of 50 are the fastest growing group in the workforce, the report also discovered. With the average age for the menopause transition identified as 51, women generally experience symptoms for around four years. There is no “one menopause” – some women experience a full gamut of often debilitating symptoms, while others may feel broadly fine.
Tech in trouble
When it comes to tech and fintech, it’s clear that more needs to be done, looking at the findings from some new research from Intuit QuickBooks. Twenty percent of women in tech or fintech who have experienced menopausal symptoms have left (or wanted to leave) their job because of their symptoms.
The symptoms that contributed most to their lack of confidence were hot flushes (39%), mood changes such as depression, anxiety and stress (37%) and poor sleep quality (36%). Thirty-eight percent of the survey’s participants said they generally felt less confident in their abilities, with 41% saying the main challenges were symptoms affecting their ability to perform work tasks.
One of the biggest barriers to the issue is that of stigma, which is stubbornly persistent. Forty-three percent of women surveyed said they wouldn’t disclose that they’re going through the menopause to their employer, and 44% also said they wouldn’t draw attention to the fact they were struggling. Worryingly, 40% said they didn’t believe they would get any additional support.
It’s hardly surprising then that so many women leave work during this time, but many say they would be more likely to stay at their organisations if they had supportive measures in place.
Just as there isn’t a one-size-fits-all menopause, equally, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for employers, but leadership teams do need to be firstly open to conversations with their female workforce about what’s needed, and from there, take action.
Along with the foundations of flexible working and health support, an employee resource group can provide a forum where women can openly about the menopause. Awareness workshops can be put in place to raise awareness among staff and let everyone know that this is something that is supported in the workplace. It matters, because businesses that do not support their employees at this time may find that they will lose valuable talent.
If you’re feeling unsupported and think a career change looks good, then we have three roles worth checking out below, as well as lots more to discover on the City AM Job Board.
Software Engineering Team Lead – London – VP, Citi, London
The Software Engineering Team Lead is a senior level position responsible for establishing and implementing new or revised application systems and programs in coordination with the technology team. You’ll partner with multiple management teams to ensure appropriate integration of functions to meet goals as well as identify and define necessary system enhancements to deploy new products and process improvements and resolve a variety of high impact problems/projects. You’ll need six to ten years’ of relevant experience in an apps development or systems analysis role, extensive experience in system analysis and in programming of software applications, as well as experience in managing and implementing successful projects. Apply here.
Senior Data Scientist, Lloyds Banking Group, Bristol
Offering a part-time four-day week or a condensed week, this role offers a hybrid working pattern. Lloyds is a very flexible employer and within reason, you can work hours to suit your lifestyle. Having successfully grown its data science capability, Lloyds is now growing and looking for a Senior Data Scientist to work in a multidisciplinary team, who will be developing experimental models and machine learning applications in Python, delivering production machine learning models across the full reach of the bank, as well as complex statistical analysis. Get the full job spec here.
CRM Manager, Monzo, London
Monzo is looking for a CRM Manager to help continue to scale Monzo and engage customers. You will manage the process for customer communication across key engagement channels, define and analyse customer segments and create custom optimisation plans, getting the right message to the right customer at the right time. You will also bring a test and learn, data-driven approach to customer relationship marketing, executing a plan based on lifecycle, customer value, product engagement and more. You will need experience in customer relationship marketing, experience with a subscription business and understanding of HTML as well as an analytical approach that focuses on understanding customer behaviour and planning around data-driven insights. High attention to detail and comfortable managing multiple priorities as well as experience working with product teams is also necessary. Apply for the CRM Manager role here.
Discover a role that’s right for you with opportunities across the UK on the City AM Job Board