As many HEXUS readers work in information technology, I thought I would share an interesting report regarding IT staff workwear, sent to HEXUS by TotalJobs.com. It might be surprising to some, especially those who work in other fields, but workwear is a major bugbear for IT staff. Some of the highlighted problems faced by the IT workers include; an ambiguous workwear policy for the IT department, unwanted comments on workwear by other members of staff, and the expense of buying ‘appropriate’ clothing.
Key findings of the TotalJobs commissioned research into IT staff workwear are as follows:
- I.T staff spend £30,456 on clothes to wear for work over the course of their careers
- I.T staff spend five months of their life thinking about what to wear for work
- Two-thirds (63%) find it difficult choosing what to wear for work – 1 in 3 say it leads to stressful decisions
- 1 in 3 (32%) have received unwanted comments about their appearance at work
- 1 in 4 (24%) feel pressure to dress a certain way because of company culture – 24% feel pressure from their managers
- 13% feel there is a lack of clarity about company dress code
- 12% have no idea what management want them to wear
It seems like many of the above issues come from a disconnect between the IT staff and other company departments. The lack of clarity, or uncertainty, is a source of unnecessary stress and pressure. In some ways it is probably the blurring of lines about whether IT is office or manual work, white collar or blue collar, that is the issue.
It would be interesting to hear HEXUS forum member anecdotes about workwear issues at their places of work, if any.
