As organisations accelerate the adoption of AI-driven recruitment and restructure workforces in response to economic and technological change, an important workforce reality risks being overlooked: what happens when these systems collide with menopause and midlife career transition?
A new UK short film, The Pause, offers a powerful lens into this issue – one that HR and people leaders would be wise to examine closely.
A workplace story many organisations aren’t hearing
Written and directed by Sam Grierson, The Pause is a 17-minute dark comedy set in Birmingham. The film follows Charlie, played by Suzy Bloom, as she is made redundant at the same time menopause begins to undermine her confidence, sense of identity, and perceived professional relevance.
As Charlie navigates algorithm-driven recruitment platforms and repeated rejection, the story raises uncomfortable but necessary questions for employers:
- How do automated hiring systems interpret midlife career gaps or non-linear performance?
- Where does unconscious bias persist when decision-making is outsourced to algorithms?
- And how often is menopause misread as underperformance rather than a predictable life stage?
The film also features Louise Osborne in a supporting role, a cameo voiceover from Miranda Hart, and endorsement from GP and global menopause specialist Dr Louise Newson, who describes the film as “a vital voice for women’s experiences.”
Why this matters to HR now
Menopause has increasingly entered workplace conversation—but often remains framed as a wellbeing or awareness issue rather than a core workforce challenge.
Yet the data tells a more strategic story:
- UK Government research shows one in six women have considered leaving work due to a lack of menopause support.
- Research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development indicates six in ten women say menopause negatively impacts their working lives.
For employers, this isn’t just about health policy. It’s about:
- Midlife talent retention
- Leadership pipeline sustainability
- Gender and age inclusion
- Productivity and performance management
- The design and governance of AI-enabled HR systems
The Pause positions menopause as a workforce systems issue, not simply an individual experience to be managed quietly or privately.
When systems fail people at midlife
One of the film’s most compelling contributions is its exploration of how organisational processes intersect with an often unrecognised life stage.
Redundancy procedures, performance narratives, CV screening tools, and automated hiring platforms are rarely designed with menopause or midlife transition in mind. The result can be a form of structural exclusion—where experienced professionals fall out of the workforce not because of declining capability, but because systems fail to adapt.
As AI increasingly mediates hiring and workforce decisions, HR leaders must ask:
- Have our data models been trained on biased historical patterns?
- Do our systems account for temporary fluctuations in confidence, cognition, or energy?
- Are we unintentionally accelerating midlife attrition through “neutral” technology?
From film to workplace action
Early professional screenings of The Pause sparked conversations that went beyond awareness and into action. That response led to the creation of The Pause Powerhouse, a collective of women business owners delivering menopause-focused workplace workshops across the UK.
Their work reframes menopause through lenses that will resonate strongly with HR leaders:
- Leadership and career transition
- Organisational culture and psychological safety
- Workplace inclusion and age equity
- Performance, identity, and confidence during midlife change
Crucially, the initiative challenges organisations to move beyond symbolic campaigns and toward systemic change—in policy, management practice, and recruitment design.
What HR leaders can take away
The Pause is not just a film – it’s a case study in what happens when organisational systems lag behind lived experience. For HR and people leaders, the film raises timely and practical questions:
- How menopause-inclusive are our redundancy and performance processes?
- Are managers equipped to interpret midlife change with empathy and skill?
- Do our AI tools reinforce or reduce bias?
- And are we designing workplaces that value experience—or quietly filtering it out?
As the workforce ages and technology reshapes how careers unfold, menopause can no longer sit at the margins of HR strategy. It belongs in conversations about inclusion, retention, leadership development, and the ethical use of AI at work.
Sometimes, it takes a film to hold up the mirror. The challenge for HR is deciding what to do once we recognise ourselves in the reflection.
Authored by Liz Crutchley, Founder, CEO & Diversity Activist at Orange Orchid