In past generations, it’s been considered unprofessional to have visible tattoos in a professional workplace setting.
However, new studies show that visible tattoos aren’t preventing professionals from getting a career in their respected field. Millennials have shown in high numbers that tattoos are becoming more accepted as body art, versus poor decision making.
The main reasons that tattoos are becoming widely accepted in various professional industries is that organizations are loosening restrictions for hiring decisions, body art is seen as independent thinking, and that other life decisions have a much larger impact on getting hired compared to tattoos.
It’s no longer about a person’s decision to wear body art, but instead their hard work and dedication put into their career experience.
The ASVAB, a career research center that conducts surveys to learn what different industries base their hiring decisions on, lists an article on their site entitled “Tattoos in the Workplace: What Employers Care About”, which states that the majority of management firms have loosened up their restrictions.
“91% of senior managers surveyed said that organizations have loosened up in the past decade. While bad behavior like foul language and displaying political messages is still considered unprofessional, one-third of companies now see no problem with employees donning visible tattoos.”
While there are still many companies that show preference to someone without tattoos versus someone with them, this study shows that companies are loosening formerly strict standards.
Another reason that tattoos are becoming more accepted in the workplace is that they’re now seen as body art, versus poor decision making.
According to an article posted on the University of Houston website titled “Do Tattoos Still Carry a Burden in Today’s Workplace?”research shows how tattoos in the workplace are being interpreted, and how the choice of tattoo may even improve your odds of landing a career.
“But whether that saddles you with negative stigma or grants you a cool, independent-thinker image is more fluid that you might expect,” according to Enrica Ruggs, associate professor at the University of Houston C.T. Bauer College of Business Department of Management and Leadership.
Demonstrating that you’re an independent thinker through body art can improve your chances of getting hired in your desired working field. Landing an important career should come from your resume, not meaningful body art.
The third reason that tattoos are becoming more accepted in the workplace is that there are more important factors than body art when it comes to hiring decisions.
The Harvard Business Review posted an analysis written by Allison Beard about the importance of tattoos called “Do Tattoos Still Carry a Burden in Today’s Workplace?”
Beard said that in a survey conducted, there wasn’t a difference in hiring those with tattoos versus those without.
“Michael T. French of the University of Miami and colleagues surveyed more than 2,000 people in the United States and found that those with tattoos were no less likely to be employed than their uninked counterparts, and that average earnings were the same for both groups. In fact, tattooed men were slightly more likely to have jobs than other men.”
This survey shows that once again, it’s not a person’s body art that affects their job performance, but instead the quality of their work.
While there’s still a long road ahead for those with visible tattoos in certain industries, the trend is slowly showing to equalize hiring opportunities.
If someone already has visible tattoos, don’t give up on your career dream. Instead, focus on providing hard work to your dedicated passion.
