Tattoos and Employment: Defining Professionalism
Charlotte Dann, Lecturer in Psychology shares her views on tattoos and how they may affect your job chances.
Last week, the BBC reported how employers are potentially missing out on ideal candidates for job vacancies, as choices to hire are still being based on visible tattoos. The latest polls suggest that almost 1 in 5 adults in the UK have a tattoo, with those of a younger generation being more likely to have them. Given their seeming popularity, why are negative views still held against those with tattoos in the workplace?
The main issue that is drawn upon within the article is visibility — a tattoo that cannot be seen cannot have judgement past upon it. However, visible tattoos leave the body open for judgement, and in environments that focus on the importance of appearance, such as the workplace, this becomes an issue. As tattoos are often considered a part of company policies addressing appearance, guidelines are often enforced to ensure employees maintain a ‘professional’ appearance, and essentially, prevent employees from expressing a part of their self that may be considered too different. In recent years, the customer service sector has been focused on, with employers stating that they would not want to give their customers the wrong impression of their business. I have challenged this policy at a large department store (which will remain nameless), and upon receiving an eventual reply, was told that tattoos that may be on display must be small and discreet — larger pieces must be covered up. This would indicate that the issue isn’t necessarily with the tattoo, but rather with the size — the loudness of it, the obviousness of it, the amount that is visible.
Interestingly, the article also points out contexts where having a tattoo may actually help you to get a job, and whilst this is presented in a jovial manner, it adds another element to this argument. It has been suggested that tattoos give the impression of creativity, despite some research finding no significant links, and therefore may be expected of people who work in creative roles. As creativity is mentioned as a positive trait for employers, it is interesting to see how the expression of creativity is defined, as to what is okay and what is not.
The overall issue at the forefront of concerns for tattoos and employment for me is not so much a problem with tattoos, but rather, how professionalism is defined. The argument highlights the need to address what is meant by professionalism, and how a visibly tattooed body intersects with this understanding, and in what contexts. This short video provides some real life experiences of being tattooed and employed.
My own research exploring constructions of tattooed women has brought up a number of key issues in relation to tattoo visibility, especially in relation to the portrayal of the self in specific contexts such as the workplace. You can read more about classed understandings of tattooed women here, and also follow up to date publications of this research here.
