As a young professional in the workforce, I know that I am in the minority when I say that casual

attire has no place in a professional environment. After college, I job-hopped for a while before
finally landing a promising position with a leading insurance company. The job required
extremely infrequent face-to-face interaction with customers, so the dress code was business
casual. I understood and appreciated this requirement. However, when the powers that be
inexplicably abolished our dress code, I was shocked. The resulting change that I’ve seen in
many of my colleagues has definitely been for the worse.

On the most basic level, attire has transitioned to completely casual. Most employees wear
jeans, and I’ve seen the occasional pair that looks more like it belongs in the trash can than at
the office. Summer blouses have become more revealing. Footwear has become more beach-
like. Questionable graphics, slogans, and political agendas are also in full display. In possibly
the most disturbing fallout, when dressing up was thrown to the wayside, so, unfortunately, was
a few people’s hygiene.

The effect of the obvious change in attire is the resulting impact to the company’s image. While
the dress code alone might not be a problem, it is somewhat startling in light of the fact that the
small amount of customer contact has remained unchanged. Not to mention, employees dine
out for lunch wearing their badges, and all of their neighbors know where they work. What kind
of message does that send? Also, I can’t help but notice the disapproving looks from the local
management, many of whom may not have been completely on board with the directive from
corporate.

Next, I’ll speak to productivity (mine included). It seems as though dressing casually has led to
approaching other aspects of the job more casually as well. A general lack of formality has
made people more inclined to chat with coworkers, surf the internet, and just generally blow off
work. It also falls short of fostering a climate of respect for the company, its customers, and
each other.

I’m sure much can be said for the benefits of allowing employees to dress as they wish. There’s
no doubt the higher-ups of my company did extensive research to evaluate the improvement to
morale, reduced cost to the company, open lines of communication between employees and
management, etc. However, those of us on the front lines know what’s really going on. While we
enjoy coming to work in our slippers, these sunglasses are really just hiding the fact that we’re
sitting here napping as we’re slumped down in our chairs after our two-hour lunch.