Menopause | Third of women hide symptoms at work

Stigma around menopause within professional industries continues to be a growing concern, according to a new report from Vodafone, which found that up to one-third of women who have suffered from the symptoms of menopause say that they opted to hide them in the workplace.

The research, which polled more than 5,000 women from five key countries including the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and South Africa, found that 37% of respondents believed the stigma around the issue of menopause had prevented them from either vocalising the issues they were facing, or reporting them to HR, as reported by The Guardian.

Those who experienced the symptoms before the age of 45 were most likely to hide the issues they were facing and were ‘too embarrassed’ to ask for support from their employer. Of those within the UK, a shocking 63% of adults under the age of 44 had opted not to ask for help – significantly higher than in other age groups, where the average was 43%.

What are companies doing to help?