Statistics · Burnout and menopause at work · Last updated 3 October 2026 · every figure traced to its primary source
The numbers on burnout in senior women and menopause at work, in one place, each with the study it came from, the year, and the size of the sample. No rounded-up headlines, no figures we could not trace back to the people who measured them.
The five numbers that matter most
- 6 in 10 senior-level women report frequently feeling burned out, against half of men at their level.²
- 13.4% of employed women aged 45 to 60 reported at least one adverse work outcome because of menopause symptoms.⁴
- $1.8 billion a year in lost work time in the US is the estimated cost of menopause symptoms, before medical costs.⁴
- 7.4 years is the median total duration of frequent hot flashes and night sweats.⁵
- 25% of working women took time off in the past year because of mental health challenges.³
Jump to: What counts as burnout · Burnout in senior women · Stress and mental health · Menopause at work · How long symptoms last · Questions · Sources
What counts as burnout in these numbers?
The World Health Organization defines burnout as a syndrome resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, with three dimensions: energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance or cynicism about the job, and reduced professional efficacy.¹ It is classified as an occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition, and the WHO applies it only to work.¹
Most surveys below do not use that full definition. They ask whether people “feel burned out,” which captures the exhaustion and not always the other two. Read the figures as self-reported burnout, not diagnosed burnout. Why that difference matters for you personally is in the three questions the research actually uses.
How common is burnout in senior women?
| Finding | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Senior-level women who frequently feel burned out | 6 in 10 (vs. half of senior men) | Women in the Workplace 2025² |
| Women in the C-suite | 29%, unchanged from 2024 | Women in the Workplace 2025² |
| Senior-level women who want to be promoted | 84% (vs. 92% of senior men) | Women in the Workplace 2025² |
| Senior-level women who say their career is important to them | 98% | Women in the Workplace 2025² |
Put the last two rows side by side. Almost every senior woman says her career matters to her, and fewer of them want the next level than the men beside them. The report links that gap to career support rather than commitment. The burnout figure is the likelier explanation for a woman who has already decided the next rung costs more than it pays. If the burnout in that first row looks nothing like burnout from the outside, because you are still delivering, it has its own pattern: what high-functioning burnout looks like from the inside.
These figures describe women in general. The Quiet Audit asks about you specifically, what you are carrying at work and outside it, and lays it out on one page in ten minutes. Start here.
What do working women report about stress and mental health?
Deloitte’s Women @ Work 2025 surveyed 7,500 women across 15 countries.³
| Finding | Figure |
|---|---|
| Stress levels higher than a year ago | 36% |
| Took time off work in the past year for mental health challenges | 25% |
| Rate their mental health as good or extremely good | 51% |
| Experience health challenges from menstruation, menopause or fertility | 24% |
| Plan to stay with their current employer more than five years | 5% |
Half of working women describe their mental health as good. The other half is the group most employers never hear from, because a quarter of them are taking the days off quietly. If you are wondering whether what you feel is the job or something your doctor should look at, the test is responsiveness, not severity.
How much does menopause affect women at work?
The largest US study on the question, led by Stephanie Faubion at the Mayo Clinic, surveyed 4,440 currently employed women aged 45 to 60 in 2021. Their average age was 53.9.⁴
| Finding | Figure |
|---|---|
| Reported at least one adverse work outcome due to menopause symptoms | 13.4% |
| Missed one or more days of work in the past year | 10.9% |
| Estimated annual US cost in lost work time | $1.8 billion |
| Estimated annual US cost including medical expenses | $28 billion |
The study found that the severity of symptoms, measured on the Menopause Rating Scale, strongly predicted the work outcomes.⁴ In practice that means the problem is not menopause as an event. It is untreated symptoms at a level nobody at work can see. The treatment options, hormonal and not, are set out in the full evidence-backed menu for hot flashes. The cognitive side, losing a word in the middle of a presentation, is in what brain scans found across the transition.
How long do menopause symptoms last?
- Hot flashes occur in up to 80% of women during the menopause transition.⁶
- In the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, 1,449 women with frequent hot flashes or night sweats had a median total duration of 7.4 years.⁵
- Women whose symptoms began while still premenopausal had the longest persistence after the final period: a median of 9.4 years.⁵
- African American women reported the longest total duration: a median of 10.1 years.⁵
Seven years is most of a senior career stage. What predicts which end of the range you land on is in how long hot flashes actually last.
Questions women ask about these numbers
What percentage of women experience burnout?
It depends on the definition and the group. Among senior-level women in US companies, six in ten report frequently feeling burned out.² Most surveys measure self-reported burnout, not the WHO’s three-part definition, so treat these as signals rather than diagnoses.
Are women more burned out than men?
At senior level, yes, in the largest annual US survey: six in ten senior women against half of senior men report frequently feeling burned out.²
How many women leave work because of menopause?
The Mayo Clinic study found 13.4% of employed women aged 45 to 60 had at least one adverse work outcome from menopause symptoms, and 10.9% had missed work in the past year.⁴ It did not separately report how many left their jobs.
Can I quote these statistics?
Yes. Please cite the original study listed below and link to this page as the compilation. Every figure was checked against its source on the date shown at the top.
The one move
Statistics tell you that you are not unusual. They cannot tell you which part of your week is doing the damage. Pick the row on this page that made you stop reading for a second. That is the place to look first.
The Quiet Audit does the rest: ten minutes of questions about everything you are carrying, and one page at the end. Start here.
Sources
1. World Health Organization. Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. 28 May 2019.
2. McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org. Women in the Workplace 2025. 124 organisations, about 10,000 employees surveyed. See also the McKinsey summary.
3. Deloitte. Women @ Work 2025: A Global Outlook. 7,500 women, 15 countries.
4. Faubion SS, et al. Impact of Menopause Symptoms on Women in the Workplace. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2023. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2023.02.025.
5. Avis NE, Crawford SL, et al. Duration of menopausal vasomotor symptoms over the menopause transition. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2015;175(4):531-539.
6. The Menopause Society. Hot Flashes. Patient education, updated 2025.
How this page is kept
Every figure comes from the original report or study, not from another statistics roundup. Where a survey measured self-reported feelings rather than a clinical definition, we say so.
This page is reviewed every quarter: new studies added, dead links replaced, superseded figures removed rather than left alongside the new ones.
Last checked against every source on 3 October 2026. Found an error or a newer figure? Write to editor@blueleafjournal.com.
Compiled by Blue Leaf Journal. Updated: 3 October 2026.