This weekend I was shopping for a new button-down shirt for work. Usually, I get long-sleeved shirts due to having tattoos on my forearms. I don't like showing these tattoos because I don't want to explain what they mean to every single co-worker that I come across on a daily basis. I came across a small problem though. I could not find a single long-sleeved shirt that caught my eye at this store. I could've kept looking or went to a different place to look, but I made the quick decision to just buy a nice short-sleeved shirt and go on with my day. Doing so made me very curious about what my co-workers and superiors will think of this change. Will I be judged for showing my tattoos? My work place's policy states as long as the tattoos are not disrespectful in nature, gang-related or violent then tattoos are good to go. When I got home, I did some research.
I found a very interesting article here.
Of the 2,675 people Salary.com surveyed in April 2018, 12% reported having a visible tattoo that can be seen by managers and co-workers during the workday. Only 3% reported having a visible body piercing (other than an earring).
The biggest takeaways from this survey include a HUGE 76% of respondents feel tattoos and piercings negatively affect an applicant’s chances of being hired during a job interview. And more than one-third of those surveyed believe employees with tattoos and piercings reflect poorly on their employers. Furthermore, 42% feel visible tattoos are always inappropriate at work, with 55% reporting the same thing about body piercings.
Those numbers are crazy! It's 2019 right? Anything is supposed to go! Or am I just biased because I have tattoos? There are some factors that might go into these opinions.
Age
Who is more likely to have tattoos in 2019? The 65 year old man at the grocery store, or the 20 year old college kid trying to figure his/her life out? The answer will ALWAYS almost be the younger person. 20-30+ years ago tattoos weren't as common as they are now. Even further back, they were kind of looked down upon to have. Sure, sometimes an older person will have tattoos or even be fully covered in them, but it is rare. For us young ones, our superiors tend to be older. The older you are the less tolerant you become regarding tattoos. From the survey, "people 18-25 were the most accepting of tattoos in the office with only 22% claiming they are inappropriate. That percentage jumps in each age group, maxing out at 63% of people age 60 and older finding tattoos objectionable at work."
Education
In my own personal experience, the more educated someone is the more likely they are to NOT have tattoos and support them in the workplace. There are probably a lot of factors that go into this like how someone grew up and their culture. But regardless, Salary.com states "20% of people with tattoos are high school graduates. That number drops slightly to 19% for those with associates degrees but falls to 10% for recipients of bachelor’s degrees. People with advanced degrees are even less likely to have tattoos, as 8% of those with master’s and just 3% of PhD recipients have tattoos. Those with high school diplomas were also the least likely to find tattoos inappropriate at 38%, compared to 55% of respondents with a PhD. However, when it comes to body piercings, there was no significant statistical difference between education levels as an average of 56% found them objectionable."
Geography
Where you live might play a part in these opinions as well. The Mountain region (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico) has the most people with tattoos at 16%. I definitely thought California would beat Arizona in tattoos! The area of the US least likely to have people with tattoos is the West South Central (Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana) with 8%.
As for which parts of the country think tattoos are inappropriate, here it is:
- Mountain (ID, MT, WY, NV, UT, CO, AZ, NM): 35%
- West North Central (MO, ND, SD, NE, KS, MN, IA): 36%
- Pacific (AK, WA, OR, CA, HI): 36%
- New England (ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT): 36%
- Outside the US: 38%
- Mid-Atlantic (NY, PA, NJ): 38%
- East South Central (KY, TN, MS, AL): 41%
- East North Central (WI, MI, IL, IN, OH): 46%
- South Atlantic (DE, MD, VA, WV, NC, SC, GA, FL): 48%
- West South Central (OK, TX, AR, LA): 55%
Industry
Agriculture/ranching has the highest amount of tattooed workers and Government employees have the lowest and I think I know why. Rugged blue collar workplaces usually don't have background screeners, or the in-depth hiring process of government jobs. For the government jobs I applied to in the past, almost ALL of them had tattoo screening questions and one even made me take pictures of EVERY single tattoo on my body, evens the one that did not show.
Here’s the full breakdown of tattooed workers by industry:
- Agriculture/ranching: 22%
- Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation: 20%
- Arts, Media, Entertainment: 16%
- Retail: 14%
- Finance & Banking: 13%
- Healthcare: 13%
- Professional Services: 13%
- Other: 13%
- Education, Child Development, Family Services: 12%
- Manufacturing: 9%
- Energy & Utilities: 9%
- Engineering, Design & Construction: 9%
- Information Technology: 9%
- Government: 8%
Here's a secret to success if I ever heard one. Do what you want, it's 2019 almost 2020. If your employer doesn't want to see your tattoos then so be it. Just because you have tattoos/piercings does not mean you are a bad worker. Prove them wrong and make that sale, stock those shelves, or make a great impression on a customer with your tattoos showing and see what they say then.
