By Gail MacLeitch, psychotherapist and VP of AI communications provider QuickBlox, and Leslie Taylor, co-founder of Half the Sky, the team behind BestYet—a digital platform which helps women take control of their menopausal journey.

Despite spending more than a third of their lives in menopause, most women face this transition with little support, personally or professionally. Instead, women tend to navigate menopause alone, often unclear on the full extent of what to expect, or when to expect it, until it arrives.

In 2024, nearly one-third of women said menopause impacted their job performance. Women reported reducing their work hours, turning down promotions, and quitting as outcomes of their symptoms. These numbers represent daily struggles playing out in the workplace.

Companies in 18 U.S. states, including Washington, California, Colorado, and New York, already offer their employees mandatory paid sick leave, but women have reported being penalized for using this time to cope with the side effects of menopause. Even in states with progressive leave policies, cultural stigma and managerial bias undermine their intended protection.

A UK study found that only a quarter of women taking sick leave felt able to tell their managers the real reason for their absence. While many wanted to protect their privacy, 34% said they were embarrassed, and another 32% said an unsupportive manager prevented them from speaking up.

Many of the symptoms women struggle with, such as self-doubt, low patience, heightened stress, and difficulty sleeping, can be helped with the right support.

Understanding Personal Symptoms

According to a survey of over 2,000 menopausal women in the UK, 84% experienced trouble sleeping, 73% experienced ‘brain fog’, and 69% experienced difficulties with anxiety or depression during menopause. However, the scale at which symptoms impact women varies and evolves over time.

What symptoms are your employees experiencing? How are these side effects influenced by controllable aspects of their lives, such as diet, exercise, and medication?

Companies can empower women with the tools to easily track and monitor their menopausal symptoms with secure and private daily logs. These tools help surface patterns in fatigue, mood, and concentration, correlated with sleep, food, and stress. Apps such as Health and Her and MENO already demonstrate similar solutions, providing individualized recommendations, such as meal guidance, mindfulness, and wellness nudges, based on symptom tracking and progress.

Gaining Confidential Guidance

Many women-centric midlife and menopause platforms are becoming available. Women who have used these report feeling more knowledgeable, confident, and in control of their menopause journey. The apps encourage self-reflection and build confidence around menopause discussions.

However, while menopause-at-work policies are becoming more common, conversations about accommodations remain deeply personal. Employers and managers should create safe pathways for private check-ins. Digital tools can help prep both parties with the right frameworks.

For example, a well-designed menopause support app might include pre-meeting reminders to ensure respectful, informed dialogue. Building guidance on how to handle disclosures and requests into the manager’s app user journey helps guarantee they see the right information when they need it. As menopause policies increasingly become mandatory, automated summaries that record what was discussed, what was agreed, and how confidentiality will be upheld provide a transparent data trail to protect both parties.

Companies can go a step further by using secure, no-code chatbot builders to provide 24/7 support. These tools, trained on medical research, HR policy, and expert guidance, can offer calm, evidence-based responses. When used responsibly, AI-enhanced chat tools become a supplemental layer of support and enable users to navigate to other pertinent workplace benefits and providers.

Building a Community

A problem shared is a problem halved, and this is especially true for menopause.

Women benefit from sharing what works and what doesn’t, from diet to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to mindset. But often, just feeling understood can be transformative, especially in an isolating workplace context.

Features companies must consider for their female employees include:

• Community support: A private, judgment-free space to connect with other women navigating menopause, share stories, and exchange tips that actually work. Women can gain emotional and practical support by engaging in forum discussions.

• Daily prompts: Affirmations, meal suggestions, lifestyle tips, and wellness nudges that spark engagement.

• HR integration: Integrated menopause apps can give HR anonymized data on employee well-being and resource use. No or low-code tools can be embedded directly with no technical expertise, meaning HR teams can launch a wellness resource tailored to their workforce with minimal effort.

This support should extend across the organization. Menopause literacy for male employees, team leaders, and executives reduces stigma. Including resources and workshops directed at the company as a whole will help lead to a more empathetic workforce.

So, can a digital coach truly support menopause in the workplace? Yes, when it’s designed with empathy, grounded in science, and built to empower. The right digital tools don’t just track symptoms, they help women advocate for themselves, stay engaged, and thrive in their roles. The companies that design for midlife now won’t just support women. They’ll set the standard for what inclusive, intelligent, and future-ready health tech in the workplace can be.