The Midlife Advantage: Why Supporting Women’s Health May Be One of the Smartest Workforce Investments We Make
After more than 30 years in healthcare, I have watched women's healthcare change tremendously. But I have also watched far too many women reach midlife without ever being prepared for how their health needs may change during these years.
I believe that conversation needs to move beyond the exam room and into workplace wellness.
Not because midlife women are a problem that employers need to solve.
Quite the opposite. They may be one of the greatest assets within today's workforce.
These are often women who have spent decades climbing professionally. They are leading teams, mentoring younger employees, making important decisions and carrying years of experience and institutional knowledge.
For many women, their 40s and 50s represent the pinnacle of what they have spent years building professionally.
And those are also the years when their health may begin to change.
The Midlife Female Workforce Is Significant
The numbers are worth paying attention to.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports that in 2024, 32% of employed women ages 45–54 worked in professional and related occupations. Women in this age group were particularly represented in healthcare and education.
Look even more broadly and women represented 52.3% of all workers in management, professional and related occupations in the United States in 2024.
Now put those workforce numbers beside what we know about women's health.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that most women experience menopause between ages 45 and 55, with perimenopause beginning before menopause and potentially lasting several years. WHO also specifically recognizes that this transition can affect physical, emotional, mental and social wellbeing.
The overlap is impossible to ignore.
We have women reaching some of their most experienced professional years at the same time their bodies may be entering one of the most significant physiological transitions of adulthood.
I don't see that as a disadvantage.
I see an opportunity.
Beyond the Generic Wellness Program
Most workplace wellness programs are built around good intentions: annual screenings, fitness incentives, nutrition education, stress management and mental health resources.
Those things matter.
But they often share one limitation.
They treat health as though our needs remain essentially the same throughout our working lives.
They don't.
And this isn't exclusively a women's issue.
Health needs change throughout life regardless of gender. Sleep changes. Metabolism changes. Hormones change. Cardiovascular risks change. Maintaining muscle and bone becomes more important. Prevention should change as our bodies change.
The health conversation we need at 25 is not necessarily the health conversation we need at 45 or 55.
Our workplace wellness strategies should evolve with that understanding.
We've already seen employers broaden wellness initiatives to recognize mental health and perinatal health. Midlife health is another important part of a life-stage approach to employee wellbeing.
And for the female workforce in particular, there is a tremendous opportunity to provide education before women find themselves wondering why they suddenly feel different.
It's About More Than Hot Flashes
For years, the menopause conversation centered primarily around hot flashes and the end of menstruation.
But women need to understand the bigger picture.
Changes in sleep, energy, concentration, memory, mood, body composition and metabolic health may all occur during the menopausal transition. WHO notes that changes associated with menopause can affect women's health as they age and describes perimenopausal care as important to promoting healthy ageing and quality of life.
After more than three decades of caring for women, the education gap is what concerns me most.
A woman who has spent 20 or 30 years building a career shouldn't suddenly begin questioning herself because she isn't sleeping, her energy has changed or her focus doesn't feel quite the same—and no one ever explained that her physiology might deserve attention.
She hasn't lost her intelligence.
She hasn't lost her leadership ability.
She hasn't lost her experience.
Her health needs may simply have changed.
Education Is Where We Can Make a Difference
This is where I believe modern workplace wellness can do much better.
Employers do not need to become healthcare providers.
But they can help create awareness.
Women can learn what is changing in midlife, why sleep matters, why maintaining muscle is increasingly important, how hormonal and metabolic health intersect, what supports cardiovascular and bone health, and when changes warrant a conversation with a healthcare professional.
That education isn't just about managing today's symptoms.
It can encourage women to become more proactive about the health factors that influence how they will feel and function for decades to come.
WHO itself describes menopause as an important opportunity to reassess health and lifestyle and approaches it as part of healthy ageing across a woman's life course.
That is the opportunity I want us to bring into the workplace.
What If We Focused on the Asset?
This is where the conversation becomes exciting to me.
Organizations spend years developing people.
They invest in leadership training, professional development, mentorship and succession planning.
Then those employees accumulate something organizations cannot easily replace:
experience.
In 2024, the median age of U.S. workers in management occupations was 46.4, and for chief executives it was 52.2.
Those numbers put the opportunity into perspective.
What if we combined decades of professional experience with better health education, stronger physical health, better sleep, mental acuity, energy and proactive prevention?
What could that mean for leadership?
For innovation?
For retention?
For mentorship?
For the next generation of women coming behind them?
That is the Midlife Advantage.
A More Modern Approach
This thinking is also at the heart of the U.N.I.Q.U.E. Workforce Model™ I have developed.
It begins with awareness and education and takes a broader look at the whole woman—hormonal health, sleep, nutrition, movement, metabolic health, stress, mental wellbeing and prevention.
But equally important, it begins by understanding the workforce rather than assuming what women need.
The goal isn't to make menopause the center of a woman's professional identity.
It is to prevent a lack of health education from getting in the way of everything she has spent her career becoming.
I believe the next evolution of workplace wellness will be more intentional about life stages and more aware of the people organizations are working so hard to retain.
For the midlife female workforce, that creates an incredible opportunity.
We don't need to ask how employers can accommodate women because they are getting older.
We need to ask a much more interesting question:
How can we combine the experience of midlife women with optimal health and mental acuity so they can continue bringing their full potential to the workplace?
That is a conversation worth having.
And it is one I look forward to having with organizations ready to think differently about women's health and workforce wellness.
Women's Health. Modern Healthcare. Stronger Workplaces.
Women's health isn't just a healthcare issue. It's a workforce strategy. When women thrive, organizations thrive.
Sources
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Women in the Labor Force, 2024: Occupation Employment Profiles of Women and Men by Age.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Employed Persons by Detailed Occupation and Age, 2024 Annual Averages.
World Health Organization (WHO), Menopause, October 2024.
Marcia Jones, NP is a women’s health expert, author and speaker with more than 30 years in healthcare. She partners with organizations to bring modern women’s health education into the workplace, helping women protect their health and potential through midlife while helping employers strengthen and retain an experienced female workforce.