Employee Dress Code Trends

Any employer knows that dress codes are a necessity. A company’s dress code is not just about mandating what your employees can/cannot wear – it speaks to the culture of the firm. Recently, many companies have been migrating to a more lax dress code – erring on the “casual” side of business casual. Other companies however are maintaining a traditional business attire environment. So what’s contributing to these trends? We have given you a breakdown of the key drivers to these changes.

Drivers of the Casual Dress Code

– Cultural Shift

• Our culture as a whole has seemingly become more casual than 20-30 years ago. If you step into any start up in NYC it is highly unlikely you will see anyone wearing a suit. Some of this country’s largest companies like Google and Apple have and encourage casual dress codes.

– It’s Trendy

• If Google is doing it – why wouldn’t we? Many businesses adopt practices from successful companies, including their dress code policies. The idea that a multi-billion dollar entity like Google or Facebook allows their employees to wear jeans makes people say “well if they do it and succeed, why can’t we?”

– Telecommuting

• With the popularity of telecommuting, many workplaces realize that it doesn’t matter if you have on sweatpants or a suit – the work WILL get done. Knowing that productivity is just as high, if not higher, in a work from home environment, companies are becoming more open to the idea of keeping it casual inside and outside the office.

Keeping It Formal

– Tradition

• Companies who are comprised of primarily older, baby boomers are more likely to uphold a more formal dress code. The concept of wearing jeans on anything other than a Friday seems unprofessional and unnecessary.

– Culture

• If the nature of your business requires you to regularly interface with customers whether in person or virtually you will often see a more formal dress code being enforced.