The silent leadership crisis: How to build a more menopause inclusive workplace

What happens when your top-performing VP suddenly forgets critical details in a negotiation, takes more sick days, or withdraws from key projects? Too often, leaders look at these as performance problems when in fact they’re symptoms of a predictable workplace gap: perimenopause and menopause. 

Perimenopause is the transitional phase leading up to menopause, marked by hormonal shifts that can begin as early as a woman’s late 30s or 40s and last four to ten years. Menopause itself is defined as 12 consecutive months without a menstrual cycle, with post-menopause extending beyond that point. Together, this life stage can span more than a decade, often overlapping with a woman’s most senior and high-impact career years. Menopause is not just hot flashes. In fact, there are up to 80 potential symptoms, with the most common including brain fog, fatigue, anxiety, sleep disruption, and hot flashes. These can directly affect decision-making, focus, and stamina, all critical in senior leadership roles if left unsupported. 

 

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One in ten women leave the workforce due to unmanaged symptoms, and many more scale back or quietly struggle through. In Canada, nearly half the workforce is women, and by 2030, one in five will be in menopause, yet most workplaces remain unprepared. When workplaces fail to address this transition, they risk losing key talent, weakening leadership pipelines, and increasing costly turnover. 

The hidden cost of silence

Maturn’s recent pulse survey underscores the urgency. Over half of respondents reported that symptoms negatively impacted their work, yet most said they did not feel supported by their organizations, nor comfortable disclosing what they were experiencing. In short: women are carrying a silent load, and workplaces are missing it. 

Unlike parental leave or mental health, menopause support is largely absent from corporate policy. Stigma and silence persist, compounded by cultural expectations that women should “push through” without complaint. The result? Missed opportunities to create truly inclusive environments. 

And the costs are significant. Replacing a senior leader costs 1.5–2x their salary, not including lost institutional knowledge or disruption to teams. Retaining women at the executive level strengthens innovation, board diversity, and even investor confidence. Addressing menopause isn’t a “nice to have”, it’s a business imperative. 

From stigma to strategy

So how can employers step up? Here are three strategies to begin building a menopause-inclusive workplace: 

1. Break the silence and normalize the conversation: Leadership acknowledgment is the first step. Hosting educational sessions, naming menopause in wellbeing initiatives, and training managers to respond with empathy and flexibility dismantles stigma and ensures women feel seen rather than sidelined.
    
2. Build the infrastructure: Policies, benefits, and environments matter. Flexible work, paid leave for symptom management, expanded health coverage, and adjustments like temperature control or access to quiet spaces make a meaningful difference in retention.
    
3. Measure what matters: Anonymous surveys, listening sessions, and metrics on retention and promotion help employers understand lived experiences, track progress, and ensure initiatives aren’t performative but impactful. 

The call to action is clear. Menopause is not an individual challenge to be endured in silence, it’s a predictable life stage that is also a workplace equity and leadership issue.  The question is no longer if your organization should act, but whether you’re ready to lead. Those who do will retain top performers, strengthen leadership pipelines, and build cultures where women can thrive at every stage of life. Those who don’t risk losing their best talent when it matters most.