Quantifying the unseen: Menopause and its impact in the APAC workplace

“Supporting menopausal employees is not a matter of merely doing the right thing—it’s a clear business imperative.” – Christina Ang, Founder and CEO of HeyVenus Integrated Healthscience

For too long, menopause has been an unspoken challenge in the workplace. Yet, as Christina Ang, Founder and CEO of HeyVenus Integrated Healthscience, pointed out, ignoring its impact comes at a cost—not just to individual employees but to the organisation’s long-term intellect capital and innovation potential.

Speaking with HRM Asia, Ang said, “Unaddressed menopause can gradually deplete an organisation’s intellectual capital by leading experienced mid-career women to disengage or consider early exit. These individuals often serve as critical anchors for mentorship, knowledge transfer, and strategic leadership. Their absence disrupts continuity, weakens collaborative capacity, and narrows the diversity of thought essential for innovation.”

According to research from the NUS Bia-Echo Asia Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality (ACRLE) and HeyVenus, 67% of women report that menopause symptoms disrupt both their professional and personal lives, with 63% of these women holding leadership positions. The financial and strategic implications of this attrition cannot be ignored.

“When menopause is not acknowledged, it sends a message that women’s lived experiences are undervalued, thereby underpinning psychological safety and overall engagement,” Ang continued. “Many women continue working through symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, and anxiety, which can silently erode their productivity and confidence—creating an invisible load that affects team dynamics and decision-making.”

Furthermore, the loss of experienced women impacts intergenerational knowledge transfer. “Women in this stage often mentor emerging leaders,” Ang noted. “Their withdrawal diminishes succession planning pipelines and deprives organisations of perspectives that enrich innovation—particularly in sectors targeting female consumers.” In the Asia-Pacific context, where relational trust and tenure are often central to leadership and organisational memory, this gradual departure poses profound long-term risks to resilience and growth.

“Asia-Pacific needs a context-specific approach”

The Asia-Pacific region’s diverse cultural and economic landscape necessitates a nuanced approach to menopause support. Ang cautioned against simply adopting Western models. “Asia-Pacific is not a monolith—cultural expectations, workplace norms, and attitudes towards women’s health vary significantly across countries,” she stated.

Instead, Ang advised organisations to “begin by listening locally, through focus groups, employee feedback, and cultural audits to understand how menopause is perceived and experienced within their specific context.” Support strategies should be tailored to company culture, workforce demographics, and inclusion maturity. This might involve starting with awareness training, flexible policies, or leadership advocacy, with the ultimate goal of building practical, balanced, and sustainable support.

HeyVenus, recognising this need for context-specific solutions, offers workplace-focused support, including teleconsultations, certified health coaches, and mobile-first menopause learning, all co-designed with corporate HR teams to ensure cultural relevance and data-backed strategies. These services help bridge policy gaps while ensuring inclusiveness and strategic alignment.

For HR leaders looking to anticipate risk, the research identified key tipping points where the financial impact of menopause becomes undeniable.  “Certain industries with high knowledge dependency, leadership demands, and talent scarcity—such as healthcare, education, financial services, and professional services—are particularly vulnerable to menopause-related attribution,” said Ang. Even modest turnover among mid-career women in these sectors can significantly disrupt productivity and increase costs.

Tracking absenteeism, turnover, and self-reported wellbeing patterns among women aged 45 and over in high-skill or client-facing roles can serve as an early warning system. “Early interventions such as health education, flexible work arrangements, and targeted support resources can help organisations proactively address emerging issues and retain critical talent,” Ang noted.

The leadership succession bottleneck

The cumulative effect of unaddressed menopause extends beyond individual wellbeing and team productivity; it directly impacts the very fabric of leadership within organisations in Asia-Pacific. As experienced women navigate their menopause journey without adequate support, a subtle but significant shift can occur in their career trajectories. Some may opt for less demanding roles, reducing their visibility and availability for leadership responsibilities, while others, feeling unsupported, may choose to leave the workforce entirely.

“When mid-to-senior level women quietly leave or downshift roles due to unmanaged menopause symptoms, it creates a bottleneck in succession planning,” Ang explained. “Fewer women are available to mentor junior talent, fewer are promoted to strategic decision-making roles, and gender balance at leadership levels suffers.”

And in today’s dynamic and increasingly competitive business environment across the Asia-Pacific, organisations face mounting pressure to optimise talent retention and foster inclusive workplaces. Amidst evolving demographics and a growing emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), forward-thinking leaders recognise that overlooking the needs of a significant portion of their workforce carries considerable strategic risks.

For C-suite executives who may still view menopause support as a peripheral concern, Ang presented a compelling reframe, directly linking it to core business objectives: “Supporting menopausal employees is not a matter of merely doing the right thing—it’s a clear business imperative.”

In Singapore alone, over 50% of women whose quality of life and professional performance are affected by menopause hold mid-to-senior leadership roles. They disengage, step back, or leave without support, taking decades of institutional knowledge and leadership capability with them.

“This creates ripple effects across succession planning, innovation capacity, and employee engagement,” Ang emphasised. “With rising retirement ages and increasing visibility of DE&I metrics, failing to act on menopause is no longer a silent oversight but a strategic blind spot.”

To help organisations respond with intention, HeyVenus offers a strategy consultation service that includes access to the research whitepaper, executive briefings, tailored policy templates, communication toolkits, and awareness workshops—resources designed to help organisations embed women’s wellbeing into their organisational DNA.

Highlighting accessible first steps from this comprehensive approach, Ang encouraged organisations to start with practical, cost-effective measures such as manager education, flexible work arrangements, and confidential support mechanisms to retain top talent and reduce productivity loss. “Menopause inclusion isn’t a perk. It’s a performance strategy that strengthens organisational resilience, reputational capital, and long-term value creation,” she concluded.