Tattoos Shouldn't Cost You a Job
Have you ever wanted a tattoo but felt limited because of your future? Good news: tattoos are no longer going to leave you perpetually unemployed like we were raised to think.
The Pew Research Center reports an estimated 40 percent of millennials have tattoos. Further, only 37 percent of human resource managers say tattoos limit career potential. Here’s my question: Why is there still a huge fuss over whether I have a visible tattoo? My tattoos should not limit my ability to get a job.
According to Business Insider, a whopping 63 percent of people who are 60 years old and up feel tattoos are inappropriate in the work place, while only 22 percent of people 18 to 25 years old view them as inappropriate.
These statistics show that many white-collar CEOs expect to not see any visible ink on the body, while younger CEOs of companies like Facebook, Google, and Torrid consider tattoos a sign of self-expression and encourage them, going so far as to have a clause in their mission statements to accept anyone based on their resumes and not on outward appearance. In contrast, places like Geico, Denny’s, and the U.S. Postal Service refuse to hire potential employees with visible tattoos.
I do not believe everyone should automatically start accepting every drop of ink on a person, but they should consider becoming more lenient with tattoo policies as time progresses. A prime example is the military. In the army alone, there have been multiple changes to the policy in just the last 10 years. In the past, if you had any visible tattoos they would turn you away. Now the Army allows tattoos everywhere but the face, neck, and hands. By expanding the policy, big companies might see an increase in millennials joining them.
According to Forbes, more companies, both blue collar and white, are stepping into a more diverse state of mind. Blue collar jobs are easy-going, and usually don’t make employees cover up tattoos unless they are offensive or vulgar. The change in policy is a great alternative, and my personal recommendation as a step in the right direction.
This is the perfect chance for companies to increase the job pool by hiring intelligent people they never thought of looking at in the first place, and to change company culture by promoting a forward-thinking, positive, and open-minded work environment.
Tattoos are a way to express ourselves without having to say a word. Why should they limit where we go in life?
