Business attire, a thing of the past?
Business attires are more and more a thing of the past. Only in banking businesses and sales/marketing departments of businesses you will see plenty of suits. But why do younger employees prefer to wear casual clothing? And what does the customer think about it?
The change from going to work in a business attire to going to work in casual clothing is primarily caused by the millennials, which form about 60% of today’s workforce. Most millennials prefer wearing casual clothing because it is more comfortable to them and makes them feel less stressed. But what do customers think of buying, for example, a car from someone who is not in a suit? Most people would probably think that a salesman belongs in a suit. But during the past years, more and more customers would actually prefer to buy from someone in casual clothing over someone in a suit, because it makes the experience feel less formal and more personal.
Even though casual clothing might actually be preferred by some customers, not every employer is happy with it. The problem is, that because of the current economic growth, there are plenty of job positions available, so the employee will take the one which it likes the most. If one job opportunity allows the employee to wear whatever he or she likes, and the other job opportunity obliges you to wear a proper business attire, we both know which one the future employee would pick. If the economy would be in a downfall, it would be possible to oblige business attires to employees, simply because they have not got too much options.
Some employers actually like that their employees dress casual, because they think that it will allow them to work and solve problems more creatively than if they would wear business attires. Although this might be true for a part of the employees, wearing casual clothing could also have a negative effect on productivity, because it simply makes the employee feel too comfortable.
We are curious to hear if you think your clothing changes your performance whilst working or studying, and if you think that employees should wear whatever they would like to wear.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-qa-dress-codes-20160616-snap-story.html
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