Monday, November 17, 2003
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
You may soon be saying good-bye to khakis, polos, denims and peasant blouses at the office.
A shift away from casual dress codes is under way. With the high jobless rate, workers in many professions want to look serious and focused. At the same time many corporations have reissued more formal guidelines.
No-Nonsense, the North Carolina-based leg wear company, confirmed the trend recently with results of a survey taken in early summer among employers and employees.
Seventy-one percent of surveyed executives agreed that work attire does affect an employee's state of mind, behavior and productivity. Sixty-three percent agreed employees who dress professionally advance faster in their careers. And 55 percent of employers responded favorably to the idea of more formal attire.
At the same time, 69 percent of Americans surveyed said they would react favorably if their companies adopted more formal dress codes. Some differences between genders: Seventy-five percent of women responded favorably compared with 61 percent of men.