Tattoos are becoming more prevalent. Which brings up the question, what do employees do about that? Do they refuse to hire people with tattos? Do they require they be covered? Categorize them as acceptable and unacceptable? (Flowers and hearts, okay. Knives plunging through skulls, not okay.)
The Associated Press examines the issue. Some quotes:
The face of the young American worker is changing, and it’s increasingly decorated with ink and metal. About half of people in their 20s have either a tattoo or a body piercing other than traditional earrings, according to a study published in June in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. That figure, which is higher than the national average, is growing, said Anne Laumann, the study’s co-author and a dermatologist at Northwestern University.
Personally, the thought of voluntarily having someone jab a needle into my skin a thousand times is enough to keep me away from tattoos forever. That and as you “mature” you tend to sag. (One of my college roommates had an eagle on her stomach. She’s since had 4 children. I cannot even imagine what that thing must look like now. Surprisingly, she doesn’t send out pictures of it in her annual Christmas card.)
For some companies, allowing body art can be a boon – it attracts young workers that may not feel welcome in more conservative environments, said Paul Forster, CEO of the job search Web site Indeed.com (which shows that postings for tattoo artist have surged in the past year). Forster allows body art in the office, and about a quarter of his 25 employees have it.
What do you all think?
I could never get a tattoe… I just don’t know what I’d want to stare at for my entire life. Mr. First Year got my name on his arm when he was 18 (yiked 5 years ago….) and I thought it was rather rednecky…
Dllaw….can you find a way to turn this post somehow into the failure of this country to distrubute wealth properly? Or not as much?
🙂 Evil HR Lady…you’re not the only evil 1!!! (Oh yea and I finally fixed my blogroll so you should show up!)
This subject seems to be coming up a lot these days. I was gong to blog about it myself, but so many other people seem to be talking about it.
A long time ago I always wanted a tattoo, and now I’m glad I never did.
Who would have thought this would become a fad? Especially those horrible picture tattoos. I hate the thought of getting my groove on with your mom or your kids staring right at me. Not cool!
I think I am going to save up a few pennies and invest in laser removal companies in a couple of years. When fad remorse sets in.
With everyone getting giant tattoos I think more people will opt to remove, than cover them up.
I think I want to see your roomate’s tatoo. 🙂
First Year–thanks. I loved your post about your former boss. And how sweet of Mr. First Year, but I agree with you. Tattoos are even more permanent than marriage.
She said: Totally agree about the laser removal. When the woman in the article hits 40 and she’s gained 30 pounds she’s really going to be wishing she wasn’t covered.
Tabitharuth: Me too. It must be something else (literally!) now.