The Hot Resignation
TBWA\Health Collective
The Challenge
In the US, 1 in 10 women going through the transition of menopause quit their jobs due to unsupportive work environments. This mass exodus costs businesses $2.2B annually and drains organizations of highly experienced female talent, many at the peak of their careers. Proactive awareness and support policies are needed to push against the taboo and the inertia to address this silent agent of inequality.
Executed independently on a reduced budget with the NGO MIPO (Menopause Information Pack for Organizations), TBWA\Health Collective’s goal was to challenge the entire business community to commit to addressing the hottest issue no one was talking about.
The Solution
To ignite a conversation and educate organizations on the topic, TBWA\Health Collective and MIPO named the exodus of menopausal women from the workplace “The Hot Resignation.” They then kicked off a nationwide movement on the social platform where professionals gather to discuss all things work: LinkedIn.
The idea was to hijack LinkedIn’s biggest icon of professional growth, the famous celebration GIFs, by creating not-so-celebratory versions. These GIFs would bring attention to the 30 symptoms of menopause many women experience in the workplace. They then engaged influential figures in the professional community to share and discuss the topic with their follower base. Professionals could also download our proprietary educational content to implement awareness and policy initiatives for their female employees.
The Results
The initiative sparked engagement from C-suite and HR leaders, women’s advocates, celebrities, influencers, and professionals from 850 companies—most of them from the Fortune 500 list. Engagement was inclusive, with 25% male participants.
The Menopause Mandate, co-chaired by internationally acclaimed actress Naomi Watts, recognized the campaign’s influence by inviting The Hot Resignation to become an official partner.
Ultimately, in just the second half of 2023, the campaign sparked a social conversation that grew the number of US companies with specific menopause policies from 4% to 16%. And the numbers continue to grow…