The Full Picture #15: Women Are Walking Away From Their Careers. And Nobody's Asking Why.
She built something she was genuinely proud of.
And then, over about eighteen months, it all started to feel harder.
Her confidence wobbled. Tasks she'd done without thinking now took real effort.
She told herself she must have lost her purpose. She was 46. She was in perimenopause. She had no idea.
This is not one woman's story. This is what the data says is happening to women across every industry, every level, and every workplace.
What's Actually Happening
The professional cost of the menopause silence is documented, measurable, and almost entirely preventable. A Mayo Clinic study of more than 4,400 employed women put a price tag on it: menopause symptoms cost an estimated 1.8 billion dollars in lost work time in the United States every year, and 26.6 billion dollars when medical costs are included.
A UK parliamentary inquiry found that eleven percent of women had turned down a promotion because of their symptoms, and eight percent had left their jobs entirely. Researchers looking at the leadership pipeline have begun naming menopause as an unexamined reason women disappear from senior roles at exactly the age they'd otherwise be moving into them.
Read that again. Women are leaving leadership at the moment they have the most to offer. Not because their capability declined. Because nobody told them what was happening in their bodies, and they assumed the problem was them.
What This Actually Looked Like For Me
I worked with a woman who had built something she was genuinely proud of. When she came to me, she said she thought she needed to walk away from it. She didn't think she had what it took anymore. She said she felt like she was always pushing through sand. Everything that used to feel natural had gotten harder, and she had run out of explanations for why.
We figured it out together. She was in perimenopause and had no idea. Within a few months of understanding what was actually happening and getting the right support, the clarity came back. So did the energy and the confidence. And she said something I haven't been able to forget: I almost walked away from something I love because I didn't know my hormones were running the show.
She is not the exception. She is the rule. These are capable, brilliant women who deserve information and context, not a shrug and a suggestion to push through.
What the Research Says
The Mayo Clinic study found that women with the heaviest symptom burden were more than fifteen times as likely to experience an adverse work outcome as women with the lightest. The gap between those two groups wasn't capability. It was support and information.
UK and European research on menopause and workplace retention has identified the menopause transition as one of the key and largely invisible contributors to the gender gap in senior leadership, with women exiting or scaling back at a point in their careers where they would otherwise be at peak influence.
Women aren't leaving because they ran out of ambition. They're leaving because they ran out of information. Those are not the same problem.
Three Shifts That Actually Help
If you've been pulling back at work and not fully understanding why, put that on your symptom list. Cognitive changes, confidence shifts, and reduced tolerance for stress are all recognized symptoms of this transition, not character issues.
If you manage a team, consider what World Menopause Awareness Month means for the women on it. You don't have to have the whole conversation. You just have to be the person who doesn't pretend it isn't happening.
Ask for what you need. Flexibility, a quieter workspace during a hard week, a conversation with HR about what support exists. The workplace only changes when women stop managing this entirely in private.
Your Move
If you're navigating menopause at work and need help having that conversation with your employer, I created a free guide for exactly this. Menopause and Work walks you through a four-step framework for talking to your manager or HR about your symptoms so you can ask for what you need without the awkwardness.
Free Menopause and Work Guide: amybenjaminmoore.com/work-guide
You're not crazy. You were never given the full picture.
This post is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about your specific situation.
