Why is menopause a workplace issue?

In focusing on menopausal women in the labour market and specific workplaces, this edited volume aims to re-theorize the management of people as it relates to the connections between gender, age and the body in organizations. The ‘bodily turn’ in management and organization studies is now nearing the end of its fourth decade (see, for early examples of this research, Burrell, 1984; Hearn et al, 1989; Acker, 1990; Brewis and Grey, 1994), and work which critically unpicks diversity initiatives dates back at least to the early 2000s (for example, Kersten, 2000; Lorbiecki and Jack, 2000; Dick and Cassell, 2002). Despite this, the menopause is still rarely discussed in management and organization studies, the sociology of work and employment literature or HRM research.

Menopause transitions encompass perimenopause where symptoms begin, through menopause which marks the day when a woman's periods have stopped for 12 months, to post-menopause thereafter, during which symptoms often continue. Symptoms can be both physical (for example, erratic periods, hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia and aches and pains) and psychological (for example, anxiety, irritability, loss of focus and forgetfulness). Research from the UK suggests that some 54 per cent of women will experience at least one severe symptom – that is, one that significantly affects their quality of life (Evandrou et al, 2021). That said, menopause is also unique to everyone that goes through it – as Karen Throsby and Celia Roberts establish in Chapter 2 in this volume, there is no such thing as THE menopause. One of the most common variations is premature menopause, defined as occurring before the age of 40, which is something 1 per cent of women experience. Menopause can also be precipitated by surgery – such as the removal of ovaries – or certain medications, like Tamoxifen which may be used to treat breast cancer.

Further, and importantly for our purposes here, menopause transitions have implications for work and are, in turn, affected by work. Indeed, and as we establish elsewhere (Atkinson et al, 2021a), this is a very important area for employers and academic researchers, given that:

• • The global north workforce is ageing, and older women have been one of the fastest growing groups among this workforce.