November 7, 2025 • 29 mins
A new survey by Live Career says menopause is one of the least discussed yet most disruptive workplace experiences for women. Out of the 900 women who have experienced it or are going through it currently, an overwhelming 97% feel pressure to hide or minimize the physical, mental, and emotional struggles they face while at work. Let's find out more by talking with Career Expert Jasmine Escalera.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Virginia Focus. I'm Rebecca Hughes of the Virginia
News Network. A new survey by Live Career says menopause
is one of the least discussed yet most disruptive workplace
experiences for women. Out of the nine hundred women who
have experienced it or are going through it currently and
we're surveyed, and overwhelming ninety seven percent feel pressure to
(00:26):
hide or minimize the physical, mental, and emotional struggles they
face while at work. Let's find out more by talking
with career expert Jasmine Escallera. Welcome to the show, miss Esclera.
I'm glad you could come on today and talk about this.
I think it's something that needs to be talked about more.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Absolutely, I one hundred percent agree with you, and I'm
so excited to have the opportunity to chat about it.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So let's start out just you know, we are talking
about working through menopause. It's my understanding that seven out
of ten women, or about sixty nine percent, report that
menopause symptoms are significantly disrupting their work performance. This survey
was done by Live Career. How many people were involved?
(01:13):
Can you tell us a little more about it?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah. So what we wanted to do in this survey
was we had an interest in how are women in
a certain season in their life experiencing work, because we
know that work can be challenging for women of all ages.
We have the pay gap, we have breaking through the grass,
the glass ceiling, there are so many things that women
(01:36):
have to navigate both inside and men we talk about
outside of work, so caregiving responsibilities and all of the
other things. So we wanted to see, because we don't
really look at this very often, how is a later
season in life like menopause affecting women in the workplace.
And what we found was quite shocking that it's not
(01:58):
only affecting women in the workplace, including their job performance,
but women are actually also feeling as though they have
to hide the symptoms of menopause as it relates to
work from their workplace. So what we're really noticing here
is an issue. We know that the workplace was traditionally
(02:20):
created for men, but we were hoping that systemically things
have changed to accept women, especially women in all stages
of their lives and what they're going through. But this
is just adding to the story that is increasingly challenging
for all women to perform the way they need to
in the workplace, and now when we talk about season
(02:43):
of life and changes, that's even getting more difficult.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, it is kind of shocking to think about it
that way. But I wonder how much of that is
just because you know, even before menopause, when you're going
through your normal you know, regular cycle stuff, if you
have particular cramps or you know, if your PMS is
particularly rough for you, we have to hide that too. Yeah,
(03:11):
and I don't think that's changed, you know, I don't
see rooms where people are allowed to go with heating
pads and ibuprofen and whatever. You know, what do you
think it would take to change this, or do you
think there's hope that it will change.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I think you're absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I think it would be great if we could walk
into the boardroom with heating pads and you know, there
was MT all in every bathroom for us, because that
would feel like we can walk into that environment and
be our fullest, holest, authentic self. And I think that
that's something that has to change, you know, formally in
the workplace right to be more accepting of individuals men, women,
(03:56):
how people are presenting themselves in the workplace and what
employees really need to be successful. We've talked about authenticity
in the workplace, but I still feel as though many
individuals feel like they have to conform in the workplace,
and the more we feel we have to conform, the
(04:17):
less we feel we can bring those components of ourselves
into that environment that really allow for us to perform
the best.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Yeah, that's definitely true. Do you think that this is
the way it is because we still have a vast
predominance of males in managerial and upper management roles. Do
you think that even though we've seen more women take
(04:46):
those roles, it's still not enough.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I think it's really about how women are expected to
kind of, quote unquote act in the workplace. I think
that women still feel as those they can't bring their
emotions into the workplace because they'll be labeled to emotional.
I think women feel as though if they become more
boisterous or they you know, really speak their opinion, then
(05:13):
they're labeled as aggressive or too much. So I really
feel it's about how we feel we can come into
the workplace and present ourselves more than anything else. I
do think more women are taking on managerial positions. I
think more women are taking on leadership roles, but I
still do think they feel as though they have to
(05:35):
act a certain way in those positions. And we all
know that if you see someone embracing everything that they're
going through in the workplace, you feel as though you
can do that as well. So I think we just
don't have the right examples. But it's not because women
don't want to do it. It's because they're afraid of
(05:56):
being labeled as something.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Yeah, I could say that, I could totally see that.
I mean, you know, I think everyone has gone through
things in their life. For me, I felt discriminated against
when I was in child bearing age. I happen to
be pregnant with my second child and a coworker, male coworker,
(06:20):
basically told me that I was not to be putting
any breast milk and a refrigerator with his lunch like
that offended him, and he was, you know, very stern
with me. And of course I was young. I didn't,
I was, you know, instead of rocking the boat. I
just was like, oh okay, and I just you know,
(06:40):
went along with it. But do you think we're seeing
a shift in men and even boys learning some of
these things so that it's not so taboo.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I think we are.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I do I think what I see especially you know,
there are good and bad to social media, But what
I do love about social media is the ability for
it to amplify a message. And you know, whereas back
when I was in my career, I didn't even know
about toxic workplaces, I had no idea that the term
(07:17):
imposter syndrome existed, and I was experiencing all of these
things and had no knowledge of it. Now we have
the ability to amplify this message, to talk about this message.
So I do think that we are seeing younger generations
of men who are surrounded by messages around what women
(07:37):
need to be their best selves, how women engage in
the workplace, and what they can be doing. And they're
seeing more women in the workplace, and so I do
think that things are evening and leveling out. However, then
when you see data like this, like what we saw
with Live Career, we're almost nine hundred women in this
(07:57):
phase of life are experiencing work performance but still not
talking about it, then you have to take a step
back and say, well, how we really change?
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Yeah? Very true, And the other thing I noticed was
it nearly a third considered changing jobs or roles within
the company in order to reduce their hours, knowing that
it was affecting their job. You would think that would
be a noble thing to do on the one hand,
because you know you're doing that for your employer, but
(08:30):
at the same time, you're taking less money, you know,
for yourself and for your life. And you know, do
you think there's a solution to that?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, you hit the you know, I think you really
expect about something. So something we really need to put
to light is if a woman feels as though she
has to take a step back just so that she
can help herself and help her body and help her
stress level, we are just continuing to propagate, you know,
(09:03):
women not being able to move up in their careers
and maybe even the pay gap. So that's something that
we don't want to do. I think what we really
need to do is we need to make conversations more
comfortable to have in the workplace. This includes conversations around burnout.
This includes conversations around mental health. This includes conversations around
(09:27):
the experiences that women have within their bodies, like menopause
and their periods. It should be okay for you to
say I'm taking a mental health day and okay for
you to say I'm taking a day off because I
don't feel well because I'm experiencing my periods. Like, why
is it not okay for us to be that clear
(09:48):
in the workplace. It's truly because we're not allowing these
conversations to be had because we feel uncomfortable or it's
not appropriate, and we have to break down those barriers
so that people can really be honest about what their
needs are. It could be that a woman who is
experiencing menopause can bring so much value to the workplace
(10:09):
about how we can support women during different health stages
and health needs, the different kinds of benefits that we
should be offering to individuals, not just health care, but
also thinking about benefits even outside of that. So it's
important for us to be having these conversations because it
allows for us to be thoughtful around how best to
(10:31):
support all employees.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Okay, I get that, I will pose this to you though.
There are a lot of people in the world who
are they see those things as private issues, and there
are other people in the world who if you were
to walk up to them and start talking about anything
to do with your body, and especially in regards to
(10:58):
menopause being the same object that's that's involving your reproductive organs.
They could claim, whether it's right or wrong, that this
is now sexual harassment because they don't want to hear
about it. You know, if if they're if they're that
kind of person. Do you think that those are part
of the reasons that we're not seeing this be and
(11:23):
other health issues too be more discussed. Will it ever
break through that or you know, do you think that's
something we'll always have to deal with.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
That's such a great question. And I think even based
off of your religion, based off of your culture, based
off of your own life experiences, you may feel less
or more comfortable speaking about these things. I think the
best case scenario would be that we can open the
door to conversations that are not being had so that
(11:56):
people can walk through that door. I think the more
that we just keep the door shut, we're not able
to even allow the individuals who do want to express
this or talk about this to talk about it at all.
And perhaps bringing these conversations into the environment, into the workplace,
into the space could help to normalize them more, because
(12:18):
I think we are still living in the state where
it's not okay for women to express what's going on
in their bodies at all. And what would it look
like if we moved that needle or shifted that needle
even a little bit.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, that's true, that's true, And of course the flip
side of that is we would have to be also
willing to hear more about what men are dealing with
in any capacity as well. You go, because there there's
plenty of men out there who they get a cold
and they're dying. You know, there's a lot.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Of really funny means on Instagram about men getting cold
and cold and what.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
They can take and not upake. But I think you're
absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
I think we have to open the door for everyone.
This isn't just a woman's issue. We're specifically talking about
a woman's issue, but I think how I think we
need to open the door for all kinds of discussions
about what we are going through as just humans.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
So what methods or ideas would you have for anyone
listening who's in a position to start to make some
of these changes. What are things that people in that
position can do to try to change this culture and
make this more normal. Would that include things like, you know,
(13:44):
group meetings. I mean, what are your ideas on that?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, So I think for women who are experiencing menopause
or menopausal symptoms, if you see that it's affecting you
at work, the first thing that I would say is
go and see your primary care physician and talk about
what's going on in your body. If you haven't done
so yet. I think one of the things that can
(14:09):
be really challenging for women, as you express, is speaking
about what's happening in their bodies, even to their primary
care positions the physicians excuse me, and even to someone
who can help and guide them. So the first thing
I would say, frontline is if you're experiencing symptoms of
very menopause and you have questions about it, go to
(14:30):
your physician, find support groups, find other women who are
going through this, and really talk about what their experiences
have been and how they've navigated it. It's so important
to get that information because it can help you significantly.
And then I think if we're on the other side
of what companies can do again, it's really about opening
(14:54):
up the different kinds of conversations for all of your employees.
You should be having conversations about mental health. You should
be having conversations about burnout, You should be having conversations
about what you're experiencing outside of the workplace and how
it is affecting you in the workplace. And even just
(15:15):
starting there is amazing. Right. We don't have to say
we're creating a menopause support group, but what we can
say is we are creating a space for you to
talk about all of the different things that happen outside
of work that we know comes into the workplace, how
it's affecting you, and what we can do to help
(15:36):
and support you. That would be a game changer in itself, right.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I've often thought about stuff like that because we see
reports and hear about companies offering all this mental health support.
But we spend the majority of our life at work,
not with our families, not in sleep. You know, the
other big things that we do are the bulk of
(16:03):
our life is spent at our jobs, and so the
bulk of our stress comes from our jobs. And yet
sometimes it's like, instead of giving me a mental health
support as far as going to see a doctor, which
I appreciate. Could you not also change the culture, change
the way we're doing things four day work week, ten
(16:24):
hour day, something different like that to support what I
need versus just here, go see somebody, and then I
need you to continue to trudge through the very thing
that's causing you problems. Do you think that would also
apply to what we're talking about and those types of
health problems. Would it be better to maybe adjust the
(16:47):
way we do work to mimic other countries?
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yeah, I definitely think so. I mean, I've heard of
other countries that offer different kinds of sectile work schedules
for day weeks, that are looking at work from a
completely different perspective, that are really putting the person, the
employee and the human at the center of it. I
think there's a lot for us to learn about how
(17:14):
we can work differently, and my hope is that with
the engagement of AI in our everyday work structure and
with AI tools being used, that that opens the door
to a lot of different conversations about how we can work,
how we can support employees, and how we can give
employees more balance and structure without affecting their day to
(17:40):
day finances. I think that's going to be the balance.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Yeah, I think that's that's the big cruxis because I mean,
I think any one of us would accept a part
time job if it still paid what we need to
be earning to cover the bills that we have, you know, that's.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, And I think that there are ways
for us to see different models across the globe of
work and really think about how we can change the
way we work, especially since we do have this big
change happening right now when it comes to AI, why
not really look at the different structures and break it
(18:20):
down to build it up more efficiently for how we
work today, right?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
And what do you think about As far as I know,
there's a huge return to work, return to office push
that's been going on in the last year. Do you
think that also plays a role, because obviously, you know,
things like menopause, any other illness that you're talking about,
(18:44):
it's a lot easier to manage when you're in the
comfort of your own home. Do you think we'll see
a reverse of that or do you think greed will
win and we're just kind of screwed.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I you know, I'm the eternal optimist here, So although
I have to tell you that I don't understand the
rto the return to office pitch or push. I'm a
little confumed by that one myself. I think that we
have shown that we can work efficiently and productively and
(19:21):
have work life balance, and that employees are traditionally happier
with that. I think there should be more of a
role based model. So depending on what kind of role
you have that determines whether you are in office or
the percentage of in the office, I think we should
be thinking more about flexibility models for employees. I think
(19:45):
employees are just more happier when they can work the
way they choose to work. And I think we should
also understand that there are going to be employees who
wants to be back in the office, so let them
be back in the office, right.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
But why don't we kind of think about this.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
More from a model based perspective, or from a role
based perspective or an individual perspective and really create models
that focus more on that.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Okay, so is there anything anybody this listening that's in
perimenopause or menopause? Is there anything they should not do
when it comes to their workplace in regards to dealing
with all of that. Physically, I think the.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Thing that you should not do is hide the effects
that it's having on your work. Do you have to
go and say I am going through PERI going to
perimenopausal or metopausal symptoms and this is the reason why
my performance is not where I would want it to be. No,
(20:54):
if you don't feel comfortable expressing that or saying that,
I can understand from a person perspect you wouldn't want
to go there. But I wouldn't want anyone to hide
what they're going through or experiencing and how it's affecting
their work. So have an open conversation and open dialogue
about what you need to be able to get your
(21:15):
performance up, around what you need to create more balance,
around what you need to have a little bit more flexibility.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
So think about it.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
How think about how you can approach your managers supervisor
from a way where you open up the conversation so
that you don't feel stressed every day thinking you have
to perform in a way that you senses can't or
you have to now take a step back when maybe
there's another option or another way. So what I would
(21:44):
say is don't hide it. Try to figure out the
best way that feels comfortable for you to express what
you're going through and to express your needs.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Okay, I love that. I love that. What would you?
Just because I want to make sure that any of
the audience who either hasn't been through that yet or
you know, maybe hasn't been exposed to it. Obviously, when
people hear about perimenopause menopause, they immediately think hot flashes.
(22:14):
But what were some of the other symptoms that were
mentioned in the report that women cited as being things
that affected their jobs? And if you have it, can
you give us the percentages?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Absolutely, that's such a great question. So we've heard of
sayings like brain fog or memory laws, and what we
found was over fifty percent of the women who are
going through menopause and experiencing productivity issues at work. That's
one of the things that they are experiencing in the workplace.
And that's something that we've heard very often related to
(22:52):
menopause is brain fog and memory laws. We've also heard
about mood swings, feeling anxiety, feelings dressed. We found that
over fifty percent of women are experiencing.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
That as well.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
When we talk about lack of sleep, feeling really feeling
really fatigued, feeling really tired. So if you're having hot
flashes during the evenings, you're not getting the right amount
of sleep, and that's affecting productivity for women at work.
That's affecting around forty six percent of the women that
we've studied or that we ask these questions around. So
(23:28):
there's a variety of different symptoms related to menopause, and
if anyone has questions, to definitely seek out the care
of their primary care position. And those symptoms can for
sure lead to lack of productivity or decreased productivity in
the workplace, And just knowing that is really important.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Have we seen any evidence that would insinuate that these
types of struggles are affecting women's ability to get in
or keep jobs. I mean, is that a possibility.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
That's so interesting. We didn't specifically look at that, but
I would imagine that if you're experiencing menopausal symptoms like
hot flashes, you're not sleeping, brain fog, memory law, but
that could absolutely affect the way that you're not just
(24:26):
being productive at work, but whether you can continue to
maintain a role. So I would say that even though
we didn't study it. That would be an interesting thing
to look at because I would imagine that there is a.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Correlation, right, And I was thinking about as well as
you know, as we get older, it's harder to convince.
You know, at certain ages, it starts becoming harder to
convince employers that were still valuable and can you know,
contribute a lot because they start seeing you as out
of touch or out of dat, are not technologically you
(25:03):
know hip I guess a good way. Yeah, so that's why.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I wrong, well, ageism in the workplace. Yeah, absolutely, You're
hitting on a major key thing and that affects everyone
in the workplace.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Agism is definitely something that individuals are experiencing. That's making
it very challenging for short for people to find positions
and roles, and it could be challenging for them to
keep them as well, especially as we continue to adopt
more technology into the workplace.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Right for sure. And you know, like I said, I
was just putting the two together agism because menopause generally
happens at elder age, so you have both of those
things going on as a woman, and that's that's a
lot of challenges to try to face to keep your
job and keep your your livelihood and your your money
(25:59):
flowing the way.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
You need to it is. It is very challenging to
be a woman in this world.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
So where can we find the study if we want
to look at it for ourselves?
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Live Career is a resume building website that helps job
professionals and career professionals create their resume and application materials.
But also we provide tons of resources like this survey
that really focus on the future of work and things
professionals need to keep top of mind. And you can
(26:36):
check out live career dot com for all of that information.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
And it's in your blog posts. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Okay, So Live career dot com. Are there any surveys
coming up in the future that you would like to
let us know to look for.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Well, we are always looking at all of the things
that are going on in the future work. We're really
looking at a lot of AI and how AI is
affecting career professionals what they need to know. We're looking
at job loss so how layoffs are affecting career professionals
and how they can navigate what's coming up next for them,
(27:18):
and lots of different surveys on how to perform best
in the workplace, especially with all the changes.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Okay, is there any particular ones you want to highlight
for us, just so we can look for.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I don't have any elf to talk with my head.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
That's fine, that's fine. I'm sure there'd be plenty to
dive into, you know, and look around, and I'll ask
you the question I'll always ask, is there anything the
audience needs to know about this particular subject we're talking
about that I did not know to ask you about.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I think the biggest thing is, if you are going
through menopause, please do contact your physician, find support groups,
and really identify the best way for you to navigate
not just your career, but your life. It's a part
of what we go through as women, and we should
accept it ourselves and society should follow to.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, that would be nice. Yeah, if society would just,
you know, embrace that a little bit, embrace a lot
of things. I mean, I think we were starting to
get there more than ever before, but I think we
still have a ways to go.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
What do you think, I do think I do think
we do and I and I say this for women,
and I say this for everyone. We have a way
to go to really be a society that accepts people
for who they are and what they go through on
a day to day basis.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yep, I agree. All right, well that is live career
dot com. Right, yes, all right, well, thank you, thank
you so much for your time today.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I hope you've enjoyed today's show. Thanks for tuning in
to the show on your favorite local radio station. You
can now listen to this show or past shows through
the iheartapp or on iHeart dot com. Just search for
Virginia Focus under podcasts. I'm Rebecca Hughes with a Virginia
news network, and I'll be here next week on Virginia
Focus
Welcome to Virginia Focus. I'm Rebecca Hughes of the Virginia
News Network. A new survey by Live Career says menopause
is one of the least discussed yet most disruptive workplace
experiences for women. Out of the nine hundred women who
have experienced it or are going through it currently and
we're surveyed, and overwhelming ninety seven percent feel pressure to
(00:26):
hide or minimize the physical, mental, and emotional struggles they
face while at work. Let's find out more by talking
with career expert Jasmine Escallera. Welcome to the show, miss Esclera.
I'm glad you could come on today and talk about this.
I think it's something that needs to be talked about more.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Absolutely, I one hundred percent agree with you, and I'm
so excited to have the opportunity to chat about it.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So let's start out just you know, we are talking
about working through menopause. It's my understanding that seven out
of ten women, or about sixty nine percent, report that
menopause symptoms are significantly disrupting their work performance. This survey
was done by Live Career. How many people were involved?
(01:13):
Can you tell us a little more about it?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah. So what we wanted to do in this survey
was we had an interest in how are women in
a certain season in their life experiencing work, because we
know that work can be challenging for women of all ages.
We have the pay gap, we have breaking through the grass,
the glass ceiling, there are so many things that women
(01:36):
have to navigate both inside and men we talk about
outside of work, so caregiving responsibilities and all of the
other things. So we wanted to see, because we don't
really look at this very often, how is a later
season in life like menopause affecting women in the workplace.
And what we found was quite shocking that it's not
(01:58):
only affecting women in the workplace, including their job performance,
but women are actually also feeling as though they have
to hide the symptoms of menopause as it relates to
work from their workplace. So what we're really noticing here
is an issue. We know that the workplace was traditionally
(02:20):
created for men, but we were hoping that systemically things
have changed to accept women, especially women in all stages
of their lives and what they're going through. But this
is just adding to the story that is increasingly challenging
for all women to perform the way they need to
in the workplace, and now when we talk about season
(02:43):
of life and changes, that's even getting more difficult.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, it is kind of shocking to think about it
that way. But I wonder how much of that is
just because you know, even before menopause, when you're going
through your normal you know, regular cycle stuff, if you
have particular cramps or you know, if your PMS is
particularly rough for you, we have to hide that too. Yeah,
(03:11):
and I don't think that's changed, you know, I don't
see rooms where people are allowed to go with heating
pads and ibuprofen and whatever. You know, what do you
think it would take to change this, or do you
think there's hope that it will change.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
I think you're absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I think it would be great if we could walk
into the boardroom with heating pads and you know, there
was MT all in every bathroom for us, because that
would feel like we can walk into that environment and
be our fullest, holest, authentic self. And I think that
that's something that has to change, you know, formally in
the workplace right to be more accepting of individuals men, women,
(03:56):
how people are presenting themselves in the workplace and what
employees really need to be successful. We've talked about authenticity
in the workplace, but I still feel as though many
individuals feel like they have to conform in the workplace,
and the more we feel we have to conform, the
(04:17):
less we feel we can bring those components of ourselves
into that environment that really allow for us to perform
the best.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Yeah, that's definitely true. Do you think that this is
the way it is because we still have a vast
predominance of males in managerial and upper management roles. Do
you think that even though we've seen more women take
(04:46):
those roles, it's still not enough.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
I think it's really about how women are expected to
kind of, quote unquote act in the workplace. I think
that women still feel as those they can't bring their
emotions into the workplace because they'll be labeled to emotional.
I think women feel as though if they become more
boisterous or they you know, really speak their opinion, then
(05:13):
they're labeled as aggressive or too much. So I really
feel it's about how we feel we can come into
the workplace and present ourselves more than anything else. I
do think more women are taking on managerial positions. I
think more women are taking on leadership roles, but I
still do think they feel as though they have to
(05:35):
act a certain way in those positions. And we all
know that if you see someone embracing everything that they're
going through in the workplace, you feel as though you
can do that as well. So I think we just
don't have the right examples. But it's not because women
don't want to do it. It's because they're afraid of
(05:56):
being labeled as something.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Yeah, I could say that, I could totally see that.
I mean, you know, I think everyone has gone through
things in their life. For me, I felt discriminated against
when I was in child bearing age. I happen to
be pregnant with my second child and a coworker, male coworker,
(06:20):
basically told me that I was not to be putting
any breast milk and a refrigerator with his lunch like
that offended him, and he was, you know, very stern
with me. And of course I was young. I didn't,
I was, you know, instead of rocking the boat. I
just was like, oh okay, and I just you know,
(06:40):
went along with it. But do you think we're seeing
a shift in men and even boys learning some of
these things so that it's not so taboo.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I think we are.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I do I think what I see especially you know,
there are good and bad to social media, But what
I do love about social media is the ability for
it to amplify a message. And you know, whereas back
when I was in my career, I didn't even know
about toxic workplaces, I had no idea that the term
(07:17):
imposter syndrome existed, and I was experiencing all of these
things and had no knowledge of it. Now we have
the ability to amplify this message, to talk about this message.
So I do think that we are seeing younger generations
of men who are surrounded by messages around what women
(07:37):
need to be their best selves, how women engage in
the workplace, and what they can be doing. And they're
seeing more women in the workplace, and so I do
think that things are evening and leveling out. However, then
when you see data like this, like what we saw
with Live Career, we're almost nine hundred women in this
(07:57):
phase of life are experiencing work performance but still not
talking about it, then you have to take a step
back and say, well, how we really change?
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Yeah? Very true, And the other thing I noticed was
it nearly a third considered changing jobs or roles within
the company in order to reduce their hours, knowing that
it was affecting their job. You would think that would
be a noble thing to do on the one hand,
because you know you're doing that for your employer, but
(08:30):
at the same time, you're taking less money, you know,
for yourself and for your life. And you know, do
you think there's a solution to that?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, you hit the you know, I think you really
expect about something. So something we really need to put
to light is if a woman feels as though she
has to take a step back just so that she
can help herself and help her body and help her
stress level, we are just continuing to propagate, you know,
(09:03):
women not being able to move up in their careers
and maybe even the pay gap. So that's something that
we don't want to do. I think what we really
need to do is we need to make conversations more
comfortable to have in the workplace. This includes conversations around burnout.
This includes conversations around mental health. This includes conversations around
(09:27):
the experiences that women have within their bodies, like menopause
and their periods. It should be okay for you to
say I'm taking a mental health day and okay for
you to say I'm taking a day off because I
don't feel well because I'm experiencing my periods. Like, why
is it not okay for us to be that clear
(09:48):
in the workplace. It's truly because we're not allowing these
conversations to be had because we feel uncomfortable or it's
not appropriate, and we have to break down those barriers
so that people can really be honest about what their
needs are. It could be that a woman who is
experiencing menopause can bring so much value to the workplace
(10:09):
about how we can support women during different health stages
and health needs, the different kinds of benefits that we
should be offering to individuals, not just health care, but
also thinking about benefits even outside of that. So it's
important for us to be having these conversations because it
allows for us to be thoughtful around how best to
(10:31):
support all employees.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
Okay, I get that, I will pose this to you though.
There are a lot of people in the world who
are they see those things as private issues, and there
are other people in the world who if you were
to walk up to them and start talking about anything
to do with your body, and especially in regards to
(10:58):
menopause being the same object that's that's involving your reproductive organs.
They could claim, whether it's right or wrong, that this
is now sexual harassment because they don't want to hear
about it. You know, if if they're if they're that
kind of person. Do you think that those are part
of the reasons that we're not seeing this be and
(11:23):
other health issues too be more discussed. Will it ever
break through that or you know, do you think that's
something we'll always have to deal with.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
That's such a great question. And I think even based
off of your religion, based off of your culture, based
off of your own life experiences, you may feel less
or more comfortable speaking about these things. I think the
best case scenario would be that we can open the
door to conversations that are not being had so that
(11:56):
people can walk through that door. I think the more
that we just keep the door shut, we're not able
to even allow the individuals who do want to express
this or talk about this to talk about it at all.
And perhaps bringing these conversations into the environment, into the workplace,
into the space could help to normalize them more, because
(12:18):
I think we are still living in the state where
it's not okay for women to express what's going on
in their bodies at all. And what would it look
like if we moved that needle or shifted that needle
even a little bit.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Yeah, that's true, that's true, And of course the flip
side of that is we would have to be also
willing to hear more about what men are dealing with
in any capacity as well. You go, because there there's
plenty of men out there who they get a cold
and they're dying. You know, there's a lot.
Speaker 2 (12:54):
Of really funny means on Instagram about men getting cold
and cold and what.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
They can take and not upake. But I think you're
absolutely right.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
I think we have to open the door for everyone.
This isn't just a woman's issue. We're specifically talking about
a woman's issue, but I think how I think we
need to open the door for all kinds of discussions
about what we are going through as just humans.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
So what methods or ideas would you have for anyone
listening who's in a position to start to make some
of these changes. What are things that people in that
position can do to try to change this culture and
make this more normal. Would that include things like, you know,
(13:44):
group meetings. I mean, what are your ideas on that?
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, So I think for women who are experiencing menopause
or menopausal symptoms, if you see that it's affecting you
at work, the first thing that I would say is
go and see your primary care physician and talk about
what's going on in your body. If you haven't done
so yet. I think one of the things that can
(14:09):
be really challenging for women, as you express, is speaking
about what's happening in their bodies, even to their primary
care positions the physicians excuse me, and even to someone
who can help and guide them. So the first thing
I would say, frontline is if you're experiencing symptoms of
very menopause and you have questions about it, go to
(14:30):
your physician, find support groups, find other women who are
going through this, and really talk about what their experiences
have been and how they've navigated it. It's so important
to get that information because it can help you significantly.
And then I think if we're on the other side
of what companies can do again, it's really about opening
(14:54):
up the different kinds of conversations for all of your employees.
You should be having conversations about mental health. You should
be having conversations about burnout, You should be having conversations
about what you're experiencing outside of the workplace and how
it is affecting you in the workplace. And even just
(15:15):
starting there is amazing. Right. We don't have to say
we're creating a menopause support group, but what we can
say is we are creating a space for you to
talk about all of the different things that happen outside
of work that we know comes into the workplace, how
it's affecting you, and what we can do to help
(15:36):
and support you. That would be a game changer in itself, right.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I've often thought about stuff like that because we see
reports and hear about companies offering all this mental health support.
But we spend the majority of our life at work,
not with our families, not in sleep. You know, the
other big things that we do are the bulk of
(16:03):
our life is spent at our jobs, and so the
bulk of our stress comes from our jobs. And yet
sometimes it's like, instead of giving me a mental health
support as far as going to see a doctor, which
I appreciate. Could you not also change the culture, change
the way we're doing things four day work week, ten
(16:24):
hour day, something different like that to support what I
need versus just here, go see somebody, and then I
need you to continue to trudge through the very thing
that's causing you problems. Do you think that would also
apply to what we're talking about and those types of
health problems. Would it be better to maybe adjust the
(16:47):
way we do work to mimic other countries?
Speaker 3 (16:51):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (16:51):
Yeah, I definitely think so. I mean, I've heard of
other countries that offer different kinds of sectile work schedules
for day weeks, that are looking at work from a
completely different perspective, that are really putting the person, the
employee and the human at the center of it. I
think there's a lot for us to learn about how
(17:14):
we can work differently, and my hope is that with
the engagement of AI in our everyday work structure and
with AI tools being used, that that opens the door
to a lot of different conversations about how we can work,
how we can support employees, and how we can give
employees more balance and structure without affecting their day to
(17:40):
day finances. I think that's going to be the balance.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Yeah, I think that's that's the big cruxis because I mean,
I think any one of us would accept a part
time job if it still paid what we need to
be earning to cover the bills that we have, you know, that's.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely, And I think that there are ways
for us to see different models across the globe of
work and really think about how we can change the
way we work, especially since we do have this big
change happening right now when it comes to AI, why
not really look at the different structures and break it
(18:20):
down to build it up more efficiently for how we
work today, right?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
And what do you think about As far as I know,
there's a huge return to work, return to office push
that's been going on in the last year. Do you
think that also plays a role, because obviously, you know,
things like menopause, any other illness that you're talking about,
(18:44):
it's a lot easier to manage when you're in the
comfort of your own home. Do you think we'll see
a reverse of that or do you think greed will
win and we're just kind of screwed.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
I you know, I'm the eternal optimist here, So although
I have to tell you that I don't understand the
rto the return to office pitch or push. I'm a
little confumed by that one myself. I think that we
have shown that we can work efficiently and productively and
(19:21):
have work life balance, and that employees are traditionally happier
with that. I think there should be more of a
role based model. So depending on what kind of role
you have that determines whether you are in office or
the percentage of in the office, I think we should
be thinking more about flexibility models for employees. I think
(19:45):
employees are just more happier when they can work the
way they choose to work. And I think we should
also understand that there are going to be employees who
wants to be back in the office, so let them
be back in the office, right.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
But why don't we kind of think about this.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
More from a model based perspective, or from a role
based perspective or an individual perspective and really create models
that focus more on that.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Okay, so is there anything anybody this listening that's in
perimenopause or menopause? Is there anything they should not do
when it comes to their workplace in regards to dealing
with all of that. Physically, I think the.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
Thing that you should not do is hide the effects
that it's having on your work. Do you have to
go and say I am going through PERI going to
perimenopausal or metopausal symptoms and this is the reason why
my performance is not where I would want it to be. No,
(20:54):
if you don't feel comfortable expressing that or saying that,
I can understand from a person perspect you wouldn't want
to go there. But I wouldn't want anyone to hide
what they're going through or experiencing and how it's affecting
their work. So have an open conversation and open dialogue
about what you need to be able to get your
(21:15):
performance up, around what you need to create more balance,
around what you need to have a little bit more flexibility.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
So think about it.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
How think about how you can approach your managers supervisor
from a way where you open up the conversation so
that you don't feel stressed every day thinking you have
to perform in a way that you senses can't or
you have to now take a step back when maybe
there's another option or another way. So what I would
(21:44):
say is don't hide it. Try to figure out the
best way that feels comfortable for you to express what
you're going through and to express your needs.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Okay, I love that. I love that. What would you?
Just because I want to make sure that any of
the audience who either hasn't been through that yet or
you know, maybe hasn't been exposed to it. Obviously, when
people hear about perimenopause menopause, they immediately think hot flashes.
(22:14):
But what were some of the other symptoms that were
mentioned in the report that women cited as being things
that affected their jobs? And if you have it, can
you give us the percentages?
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Absolutely, that's such a great question. So we've heard of
sayings like brain fog or memory laws, and what we
found was over fifty percent of the women who are
going through menopause and experiencing productivity issues at work. That's
one of the things that they are experiencing in the workplace.
And that's something that we've heard very often related to
(22:52):
menopause is brain fog and memory laws. We've also heard
about mood swings, feeling anxiety, feelings dressed. We found that
over fifty percent of women are experiencing.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
That as well.
Speaker 2 (23:05):
When we talk about lack of sleep, feeling really feeling
really fatigued, feeling really tired. So if you're having hot
flashes during the evenings, you're not getting the right amount
of sleep, and that's affecting productivity for women at work.
That's affecting around forty six percent of the women that
we've studied or that we ask these questions around. So
(23:28):
there's a variety of different symptoms related to menopause, and
if anyone has questions, to definitely seek out the care
of their primary care position. And those symptoms can for
sure lead to lack of productivity or decreased productivity in
the workplace, And just knowing that is really important.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Have we seen any evidence that would insinuate that these
types of struggles are affecting women's ability to get in
or keep jobs. I mean, is that a possibility.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
That's so interesting. We didn't specifically look at that, but
I would imagine that if you're experiencing menopausal symptoms like
hot flashes, you're not sleeping, brain fog, memory law, but
that could absolutely affect the way that you're not just
(24:26):
being productive at work, but whether you can continue to
maintain a role. So I would say that even though
we didn't study it. That would be an interesting thing
to look at because I would imagine that there is a.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Correlation, right, And I was thinking about as well as
you know, as we get older, it's harder to convince.
You know, at certain ages, it starts becoming harder to
convince employers that were still valuable and can you know,
contribute a lot because they start seeing you as out
of touch or out of dat, are not technologically you
(25:03):
know hip I guess a good way. Yeah, so that's why.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I wrong, well, ageism in the workplace. Yeah, absolutely, You're
hitting on a major key thing and that affects everyone
in the workplace.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Agism is definitely something that individuals are experiencing. That's making
it very challenging for short for people to find positions
and roles, and it could be challenging for them to
keep them as well, especially as we continue to adopt
more technology into the workplace.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
Right for sure. And you know, like I said, I
was just putting the two together agism because menopause generally
happens at elder age, so you have both of those
things going on as a woman, and that's that's a
lot of challenges to try to face to keep your
job and keep your your livelihood and your your money
(25:59):
flowing the way.
Speaker 2 (26:00):
You need to it is. It is very challenging to
be a woman in this world.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
So where can we find the study if we want
to look at it for ourselves?
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Live Career is a resume building website that helps job
professionals and career professionals create their resume and application materials.
But also we provide tons of resources like this survey
that really focus on the future of work and things
professionals need to keep top of mind. And you can
(26:36):
check out live career dot com for all of that information.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
And it's in your blog posts. Is that right?
Speaker 2 (26:44):
Absolutely?
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Okay, So Live career dot com. Are there any surveys
coming up in the future that you would like to
let us know to look for.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Well, we are always looking at all of the things
that are going on in the future work. We're really
looking at a lot of AI and how AI is
affecting career professionals what they need to know. We're looking
at job loss so how layoffs are affecting career professionals
and how they can navigate what's coming up next for them,
(27:18):
and lots of different surveys on how to perform best
in the workplace, especially with all the changes.
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Okay, is there any particular ones you want to highlight
for us, just so we can look for.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I don't have any elf to talk with my head.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
That's fine, that's fine. I'm sure there'd be plenty to
dive into, you know, and look around, and I'll ask
you the question I'll always ask, is there anything the
audience needs to know about this particular subject we're talking
about that I did not know to ask you about.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
I think the biggest thing is, if you are going
through menopause, please do contact your physician, find support groups,
and really identify the best way for you to navigate
not just your career, but your life. It's a part
of what we go through as women, and we should
accept it ourselves and society should follow to.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, that would be nice. Yeah, if society would just,
you know, embrace that a little bit, embrace a lot
of things. I mean, I think we were starting to
get there more than ever before, but I think we
still have a ways to go.
Speaker 2 (28:31):
What do you think, I do think I do think
we do and I and I say this for women,
and I say this for everyone. We have a way
to go to really be a society that accepts people
for who they are and what they go through on
a day to day basis.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Yep, I agree. All right, well that is live career
dot com. Right, yes, all right, well, thank you, thank
you so much for your time today.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:05):
I hope you've enjoyed today's show. Thanks for tuning in
to the show on your favorite local radio station. You
can now listen to this show or past shows through
the iheartapp or on iHeart dot com. Just search for
Virginia Focus under podcasts. I'm Rebecca Hughes with a Virginia
news network, and I'll be here next week on Virginia
Focus
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