Mayra Hurtado, Co-founder of Hormony highlights why workplaces should prioritise women’s lifelong hormonal health, beyond just menopause. From fertility to hormonal imbalances, women face challenges throughout their careers that impact productivity and well-being. By adopting FemTech solutions, employers can support their female workforce at every stage, fostering healthier, more engaged employees and positioning themselves as leaders in women’s health innovation.
Women’s health is undergoing a seismic shift. In recent years, the efforts of campaigners, policies, innovators and the public have led us to prioritising women’s health more than ever before. Women are demanding solutions to health conditions that disproportionately affect them, with celebrity advocates flying the flag and entrepreneurs are leveraging technology to meet this need. As a result, an increasing number of FemTech solutions are hitting the market, to treat conditions such as PMDD, endometriosis, menopause, fertility and more. Menopause in particular, is the focal point of much of this discussion. In response, many workplaces are implementing policies to support their midlife female workforce. Around a quarter of those surveyed by the CIPD say their employer now has a menopause policy or other support in place. Over 600 large businesses have signed ‘The Menopause Workplace Pledge’, including BBC, Royal Mail, Co-op and TSB.
While this is positive news for women’s health and midlife care to keep more women thriving in their careers and improve their health and longevity in the next stage of their life, supporting women’s hormonal health in the workplace doesn’t only comprise menopause. Up to 80% of women live with a hormonal imbalance, and many aren’t even aware of it. Hormonal conditions that affect women can cause a variety of health issues, including irregular periods, mood swings, breast changes, thyroid disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and primary ovarian insufficiency, among others. The physical and mental effects of hormonal imbalances are both numerous and under-researched. Fortunately, the rise in FemTech solutions puts care and solutions right into the hands of the women who need them, meanwhile offering businesses the opportunity to leverage these new consumer technologies to support their female workforce at any age.
In the majority of workplaces, hormonal health is synonymous with fertility and menopause. However, if not understood and managed, hormonal health can affect a woman’s career in a number of ways, from their mood and energy levels to their cognitive performance. For women in their twenties and thirties who are beginning their career or climbing up the corporate ladder, an understanding of hormonal health and adequate support are key measures to ensure that they have the tools to advance and thrive as they take on more senior roles. In the UK alone, productivity losses due to menopause are estimated to cost the economy £14 million per year. A recent NHS Confederation report, in collaboration with the CREATE Health Foundation and consultancy firm London Economics also found that women missing work as a result of painful periods, endometriosis, fibroids and ovarian cysts costs the UK economy £11 million per year. These conditions can strike at any age, which highlights the need for workplaces to accommodate hormonal health. Not in the least due to the financial strain on businesses, but equally to make women’s hormonal health in the workplace more comprehensive to avoid the female workforce falling short of their potential.
One of the main benefits of FemTech is its ability to solve this issue, along with a host of other conditions that only affect or disproportionately affect women, and the vast potential that this offers employers, investors and the women it serves. From diagnostics to wearables, women now have the ability to be more attuned to their bodies than ever before. Firms like Hertility, or ourselves at Hormony, among many others, are working in this space to facilitate this change and make women’s hormonal health an accessible reality through innovative tech solutions. Delivering real-time, accurate data gives women the autonomy to make decisions about their health and understand their hormones to be able to make informed choices. However, although the industry continues to grow, consumers may not be aware of solutions that are available. This, in turn, gives employers an opportunity to get ahead of the game and position themselves as pioneers of their female workforce. Not only would this greatly benefit FemTech startups through strategic B2B partnerships with corporates who align with the wider mission of women’s health, but it would accelerate the pace at which hormonal health tech solutions reach the consumers it seeks to serve.
We’re at a watershed moment in FemTech as more startups broker workplace partnerships to provide the female workforce with solutions. From fertility to menopause, employers are increasingly catering to women’s health. Hormonal health could very well be the most important element, as it affects not only women’s daily cognitive function, but mental health, fertility, menopause and more. For younger generations of women who are more vocal about what benefits and policies they expect from employers, I anticipate that hormonal health will be a high priority. To support this next generation of talent while reducing productivity losses long-term, investing in women’s hormonal health technology is the right place to start. Employers, take note.