With the continued successes of Saudi Vision 2030 in empowering women and raising their participation rate in the labor market to historic levels, we are now moving towards a new phase in labor economics:
"The Phase of Sustainability of Competencies".
As these women advance in their professional careers and reach senior leadership positions, a new challenge emerges for us as human resources specialists, directly related to the "hidden costs" of healthcare, specifically what is known as the "menopause phase" (or age of hope).

Historically, labor markets have treated this physiological change as a personal health matter, but recent data compel us to completely reprice this perspective.
According to a 2026 study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the percentage of companies offering dedicated support for this phase jumped to 27% compared to 18% last year.
This accelerated growth (by 50%) is not just a managerial trend, but an inevitable economic response to a dysfunction in resource allocation efficiency.

Calculating Economic Loss: The Cost of Presenteeism and Absenteeism
In economics, we rely on numbers to measure the size of the problem.
A 2023 study by the Mayo Clinic provided us with a stark model of the economic waste resulting from ignoring this phase; companies in the United States incur losses estimated at $1.8 billion annually due to direct "lost work time".
This figure jumps to $26.6 billion when indirect medical costs and decreased productivity are factored in.

These symptoms (such as sleep disturbances, lack of concentration, and fatigue) create an economic phenomenon known as "presenteeism" – where the employee is present at work but with very low productivity. Here, the cost of providing paid leave or physical therapy or specialized consultations is much lower than the opportunity cost represented by the decline in decision-making quality or poor collaboration.

The Human Capital Theory and Institutional Knowledge
Women going through this phase are typically in their forties or fifties; that is, at the peak of their professional maturity (Peak Earning and Productivity Years).
From the perspective of the "Human Capital Theory", the loss of these leaders represents a destruction of the institutional knowledge that the company has invested millions of riyals and many years in building.

As expert "Leah Spore" notes in the SHRM report, the absence of support drives some competencies to refuse promotions, reduce their tasks, or even exit the labor market early.
The "turnover cost" of hiring replacement leaders typically ranges from 150% to 200% of the annual salary of the lost employee, making investment in health support programs a strategically excellent financial decision.

The Impact of Signaling Theory in Talent Competition
Why do companies like "Ally Financial" provide integrated support platforms that include doctors and mental health specialists? The economic explanation here lies in "signaling theory".
The total rewards manager at the company sees this support as a "competitive advantage".
When a company offers tailored benefits to a specific group, it sends a strong signal to the entire labor market: "We are an organization that cares about the quality of life of its employees".
This enhances organizational loyalty, and according to data from "Bank of America" (2024), 58% of women confirmed that these benefits enabled them to deliver "their best performance".

Legislative Intervention to Correct Market Failures
As is the case in any market failure where the private sector does not provide adequate care, governments intervene to correct it. We saw this clearly last year when the state of Rhode Island mandated employers to provide legal accommodations for this phase, followed by Illinois and New Jersey mandating insurance companies to cover it.

A Message to the Local Market
Colleagues, as we study human resource economics and prepare to engage in leading our national institutions, we must recognize that "quality of life" programs (one of the most important programs of Vision 2030) must be reflected in the internal structures of organizations.
Designing benefits packages is no longer a rigid mathematical process, but a behavioral and economic engineering that ensures the Saudi labor market retains its most important assets: experienced national competencies, and provides a healthy work environment that ensures the highest rates of return on human investment.