Tattoos can impede professional advancement

Although body art is a growing fashion trend and acceptable in some environments, visible tattoos are often seen as unprofessional in the workplace and are unwanted by coworkers, a new study has found.

Researchers at Texas State University distributed more than 150 surveys to people with and without body art. The surveys presented a workplace scenario of selling business insurance, then asked participants to give their opinions about working with someone with visible body art (tattoos and/or body piercings).

The findings suggest that people would rather not work with someone who has visible body art in situations requiring face–to–face contact with customers, even if the person is qualified for the job. Also, people do not want to share sales commission with body art wearers due to a concern that such a collaboration could negatively impact their own job performance.

“Our analysis suggests that body art wearers have not yet overcome employment prejudices and that they may have simply punctured their employment possibilities,” said Brian K. Miller, one of the authors of the study, which was presented in April at a conference of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

If you have tattoos that you believe might be holding you back in the workplace–or that you regret for other reasons–Zel can help. We have state–of–the–art laser therapies that can safely and effectively minimize or remove most unwanted tattoos. Call 952–929–8888 for more information and a personal consultation.