The career cost nobody budgets for, and the companies finally pricing it in
Across management and executive roles, close to a third of women have considered quitting over menopause-related symptoms. The figure is 34%, drawn from a 2025 WebMD Health Services survey, and it is not a number most employers track anywhere in their planning.
Here is why you should pay attention to this.
Most women enter menopause between 45 and 55, which overlaps with the years they tend to be moving into top leadership posts. The stage at which an organization draws the most from its women executives is also the stage at which she may be coping with a hot flash during a board presentation, running on three hours of rest before an 8 a.m. review, or losing a word mid-sentence.
The same research showed that 45% of women in leadership hide their symptoms from colleagues. According to Deloitte's 2025 Women @ Work report, 36% of women dealing with symptoms are enduring intense discomfort without relief. The trend tracker Exploding Topics shows queries for "perimenopause" rising by about 740%. Large numbers of people are looking for answers to these questions. Employers' policies have lagged well behind this need.
Where the data is gathered
WebMD Health Services polled working women in 2025 about menopause support and how symptoms affect business. Input from 7,500 women living in 15 countries shaped Deloitte's study. Neither study captures everyone, and both rely on women describing their own experiences. Still, the two point the same way: senior women are leaving, or considering it, for a reason they have learned not to name.
A typical scene
Picture a 51-year-old chief operating officer in Sandy preparing for the quarterly review. She slept from 1 to 4. She has already changed the thermostat twice and suspects she will need to change it again. Partway through the meeting, in front of the CFO, she reaches for the term "amortization" and draws a blank for a full four seconds. No one comments. For the remainder of the day she worries whether anyone caught it, and for the remainder of the quarter she questions whether she still has what the job requires.
She replies. She is also, by the statistics, one of the third who have considered walking away.
What this could mean for you in Salt Lake City
When symptoms are affecting your work, staying silent tends to cost you the most. Sharing more detail than necessary with someone who has no real need to know comes in a close second. The sensible path lies in being exact, keeping it contained and speaking plainly.
What to request
You might request flexibility around early meetings by saying, "I'm dealing with a health matter and would like to avoid 8 a.m." starts for a few months." Revealing a diagnosis is not required, and a manager who presses for one has already shown you how they will respond.
Request control over room temperature, a confidential channel to HR, and a benefits review that treats menopause the way it treats maternity. If you set policy, act before anyone has to ask; losing a senior leader costs far more than a fan and a paragraph in the handbook.
Seek out women a few years ahead of you. They can tell you which clinician to consult, which symptom to address first and how to approach your manager. That kind of peer network is a large part of why groups like this one exist, whether you meet through the Business Women's Forum at the Salt Lake Chamber, a session with 100 Women in Finance, or a circle at the Women Tech Council.
What would it take for you to say this word aloud at work?