Tattoos in The Workforce - Do Your Tattoos Put Your Job at Risk?

I was thinking about the impact of tattoos in the workplace the other day when I was up really late watching the discovery channel and they were interviewing an ex member of the Yakuza. He was an elementary school teacher. Over 97% of his body had ink on it in various shapes, patterns, and designs. He had tattoos on his cheek bones, his ears, his nose, and for all intents and purposes everywhere you could imagine. The school he taught at was not aware of his tattoos. He concealed them every morning with layers upon layer of makeup and foundation to appear just like everyone else. His main concern was the way people judged him in society and that his tattoos would be inappropriate to unveil in front of school children. I began wondering about how many people in the US who are also inked are forced to either conceal their tattoos in their workplace or constantly fear being looked down upon and perhaps jeopardize their careers. I can imagine that twenty or thirty years ago many industries would have cared about people who have ink but in today’s world I think the perspective has changed.
In 2006 a study done by the American Academy of Dermatology stated that 24% of Americans between 18 and 50 were tattooed. That’s about one in four. Furthermore 36% of Americans between ages 18 to 29 were estimated at that time to have at least one tattoo! That’s a lot of people being tattooed. If one in four Americans is tattooed then to me it’s a cultural indication that getting ink has become so common that it is no longer devious and against the norm. Not only do I think that it is no longer considered devious but rather, it is somewhat accepted. When someone is 18 it’s almost expected that they might go get a tattoo just like they might go get a pack of smokes or their Proposition 215 recommendation. I think that our culture’s accessibility and modern understanding of tattooing is so drastically different than in previous generations that the role of tattoos in the workplace has completely changed. It is no longer a deciding factor that can put ones job at risk. If these statistics are accurate, which they should be coming from a credible academic source, then it should be quite common that your boss and supervisor have tattoos. Hell, the owner of the company probably has tattoos.
I was reading an article on CNNMoney.com and came across a phenomenal op-ed piece where a college grad got an internship at the company of her dreams but was worried of being fired because of a tattoo on her neck. She was afraid that her tattoos in the workplace would cause her name to be tarnished. The columnist responding to her worries quoted John Challenger, CEO of Challenger Gray & Christmas, “Even in this tight job market, most companies are not going to view tattoos too harshly… One reason is that with everyone from soccer moms to MIT computer science graduates sporting tattoos, preconceptions about tattooed individuals are no longer valid. More importantly, companies have a vested interest in hiring the most qualified candidate." He was also stating that in today’s economy there’s more tolerance towards tattoos in the workplace since it would be more difficult to find people in Generation Y (18-29 year olds of whom 38% are inked) that are assets to the company without tattoos than those with.
Something I think the future generation needs to consider is that even though tattoos in the workplace are less taboo there are still certain social limits and standards our culture adheres to. I don’t think a bank would allow a person with tattoos on their face to work as a teller much like a 5 star hotel would probably not allow a concierge to have skulls and flames all over the back of their hands. Tattoos are constantly becoming more embedded within what we consider to be the “norm” but there were still be certain boundaries that cannot be overcome. The followers of today’s tattoo culture will be engineers, physicians, artists, musicians, baristas, bar tenders, stock brokers, lawyers, and everything else in between and should not be judged in the workforce for anything other than their contributions to the company.

share this article to: Facebook Twitter Google+ Linkedin Technorati Digg

Posted by Unknown, Published at 6:24 AM and have