Twenty-Nine Weeks: The Risk Sitting Inside Your Senior Team
September 5, 2026
Part 2: Menopause in the Workplace – Moving from Cost to Action
September 12, 2026
Menopause is often viewed as a personal health issue. Increasingly, however, it is becoming a workplace and economic issue that employers and plan sponsors cannot afford to overlook.
More than two million Canadian women between the ages of 45 and 55 are working—the age range when most women experience menopause. Many women occupying management, professional and leadership positions. The number of working women in this age group is expected to grow significantly over the coming years.
The economic implications are significant.
A Deloitte Canada economic analysis conducted for the Menopause Foundation of Canada, approximately $237 million represents lost productivity for employers, with an estimated 540,000 workdays lost annually due to menopause symptom management. Women themselves bear an even larger financial burden, with approximately $3.3 billion in lost income resulting from reduced hours, lower earnings or leaving the workforce altogether.
These numbers tell only part of the story.
The economic cost does not necessarily begin when an employee leaves the workforce. It can begin much earlier.
Menopause symptoms can affect sleep, energy, mood, concentration and memory. For an experienced employee, the impact may first appear as reduced productivity or presenteeism—being at work but not performing at the level she normally would. Over time, this can lead to reduced hours, a decision not to pursue a promotion, increased absenteeism or, ultimately, leaving the workforce.
For employers, this presents a particularly important issue. The women most affected are often employees with years of experience, institutional knowledge and leadership responsibilities. Losing an experienced employee carries costs that extend well beyond the employee’s salary.
There is also the cost of replacement. Replacing experienced employees requires recruiting, training and onboarding, while the organization absorbs the loss of knowledge and productivity during the transition. The Deloitte-supported research and related Canadian workplace analysis point to the broader economic consequences of women reducing their participation in the workforce because of unmanaged menopause symptoms.
Menopause remains largely invisible in the workplace.
Many women are uncomfortable discussing their symptoms with their employer or human resources department. As a result, the cost may never appear in a company’s benefits claims data as “menopause.” Instead, it may appear as absenteeism, reduced productivity, a change to part-time work, a performance concern or a resignation.
This makes menopause different from many traditional benefits issues.
Employers have become increasingly sophisticated in addressing mental health, chronic disease, disability and other factors that affect employee health and productivity. Menopause deserves consideration within that broader discussion of workplace health and employee well-being. Employers should provide their employees with access to education, resources and healthcare support they need to recognize health concerns earlier and seek appropriate care.
A benefits strategy that supports employees throughout their working lives will help employers retain experienced employees, support productivity and demonstrate that the organization values the health and well-being of its workforce.
Menopause is not simply a women’s health issue.
It is a workforce issue, a productivity issue and, increasingly, an economic issue. The next question is a practical one: What can employers and their group benefits plans do to help?
