Over the past several years, tattoos have become more acceptable in the workplace for almost all industries. There will always be some industries that are behind the times compared to others, but for the majority, changes to look beyond the individual being interviewed, and into their abilities to perform the job, have become increasingly visible. Some of the factors that have played a part in this are the increasing number of Millennials with body art of some type; perception changes regarding diversity in the workplace and the importance of this initiative to maintain employees; and the advancement of technology in industry requiring innovative thinking to ensure competitiveness.
“In 2006, nearly 25 percent of Americans had one or more tattoos,
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With this initiative, comes the challenge for top executives and down to rethink their perception of others, and with this topic includes body art. Open-mindedness is required for a company’s diversity program to succeed. “Diversity sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic groups, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background, and more” (The Multicultural Advantage – www.multiculturaladvantage.com). “Companies that encourage diversity in the workplace inspire all of their employees to perform to their highest ability. Company-wide strategies can then be executed; resulting in higher productivity, profit, and return on investment.” (The Multicultural Advantage). The days of dismissing the thought of hiring someone with body art ended years ago. Most industries today will look deeper, beyond the physical appearance, and think about not only what this person has to offer their company, but is their company diverse enough for this individual to choose them. The current generation moving from college to the professional industries have more of a sense on finding a company that allows them to be themselves and will keep them happy, more so than past generations that felt the need to find a job quickly and start making money. With this change in thought means that the interview process is a two way street, and not only does the person being interviewed need to have the best skills for the job in question, but the company must show attraction as well. This attraction includes in many cases acceptance of body art in the