A colleague asks if the team could move the Thursday afternoon meeting to the morning. Later she mentions, almost in passing, that she is going through the menopause and her sleep is all over the place. Ten years ago, very few people would have said that at work. More of them now do, and more employers are starting to talk about it too.
There are good reasons this is changing. The workforce in many countries is getting older, and women in their late forties and fifties are one of the fastest growing groups at work. In tech, many of them are senior, experienced and hard to replace. Symptoms such as poor sleep, hot flushes, difficulty concentrating and anxiety can last for years, and surveys in several countries have found that some women have reduced their hours or left jobs because of them. Employers have noticed what that costs.
In some places the law is starting to reflect it. In the United Kingdom, for example, the equality regulator has published guidance explaining when employers may need to make adjustments for menopause symptoms. Other countries treat it very differently, or not at all, so check what applies where you work.
For you, this means a few practical things, whether or not it is something you will go through yourself.
Expect more open conversations, and take requests at face value. A fan on a desk, a meeting moved to a better time of day, the camera off on a bad morning, a little flexibility over start times. These are usually small, and they often help more people than the one who asked.
Keep what you are told private. If a colleague tells you about their health, it is theirs to share further, not yours.
Leave the jokes alone. Comments about hot flushes or mood have long been treated as harmless office humour, and they can make a capable colleague feel she has to hide something she should not have to.
If you manage people, learn the basics before you need them. Find out whether your company has a policy, what support exists, and how flexible working requests are handled. A manager who can say, let us work out what would help, without awkwardness, makes a huge difference.
And if it is you, or will be, know that talking about it at work is becoming normal. You are allowed to ask for what helps you do your job well.
The teams that handle this well will simply be the ones where health is something people can mention without lowering their voice.
– Asael Shinder
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