Of all women who are going through the menopause, slightly more than half suffer from this at work. Complaints that can occur are pain, fatigue, less ability to concentrate and suffer from hot flashes. In a small percentage of women the complaints are so bad that they call in sick. This is reported by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and TNO based on a follow-up measurement of the National Working Conditions Survey (NEA).
In the survey of 173,000 female employees, more than half of the women, about 55 percent, reported that the menopausal symptoms they suffer from sometimes affect their work. At 8 percent this played daily.
Two in three women who suffer from menopausal symptoms at work discuss this with colleagues. But not everyone does. A small group would like to, but do not. The women with menopausal symptoms say they want more support and understanding, especially from their supervisors.
About 20 percent of the menopausal women experience no health problems at all and 25 percent do have menopausal complaints but are not hindered at work.