Employers urged to embrace tattoos and piercings

Corporate Jamaica is being urged to break free of the age-old tradition of looking at tattoos and piercings with a jaundiced eye. Visible tattoos and unconventional piercings have been growing in popularity, and many young persons have been pushing for employers to get into the now.

"It's not what is on your body that determines the level of work you put in. It is what is inside your mind; it's your brain. It's your thought process and it's your education behind all of that," Andre Scarlett said.

Scarlett has tattoos on both his arms and neck, but was mindful that an abundance of visible markings could impact his employability.

"I got my tattoos in a smart way. I put on a long-sleeved, button-up shirt, and I marked around my neck the areas that would have been covered, just in case I look for a professional job," he told THE STAR.

The 28-year-old said that the time has come for employers to rethink their position on tattoos and unconventional piercings.

"They need to start thinking a bit more futuristic," Scarlett said.

"Times are changing, people are changing. As long as the tattoos are not on the face or it's not displaying any violent or pornographic material, I think it can be accepted, and they should try and transcend into that type of lifestyle."

David Wan, president of the Jamaica Employers' Federation (JEF), said that the attitude towards visible tattoos and piercings in corporate Jamaica is changing.

"If they [employers] were to say to all job applicants, you can't have a tattoo to work for us, they would have been excluding a whole lot of talent from their talent pool," Wan said.

Forced to adjust

The JEF head said that "there is more tolerance, and the attitudes towards it are changing. The companies that rely on younger workers, like the BPOs and the banks that have lots of clerical work, and bank tellers who are entry-level people, they are being forced to adjust because they'd be cutting themselves off from the talent pool if they didn't start to accept it, with some guidelines."

He said, however, that traditional fields like law and medicine are less likely to see an acceptance of persons with visible tattoos and unconventional piercings.

In the meantime, one prominent representative of a public-sector financial institution told THE STAR that tattoos and piercings are still an 'absolute no-no'. This official, who has asked not to be named, said that once the wider society continues to think negatively of these body modifications, they must continue to hold their employees to that standard.

"As long as society sees it that way, and we are operating in the society where our customers are from, you have to pander to what is being considered norm," they said.

Tattoo artist and owner of Brittinktattoos, Brittney Hughes, said that employers who believe that people with tattoos and piercings poorly represent professional values should reconsider the position.

"If they place their company's values on the face value of a person and not their skill set, then it's not, personally, a business I would want to do business with," Hughes said.

Darron Donaldson, an actor and model who also has tattoos on his lower arm, argued that the fact that a person has tattoos and piercings should not factor into the decision to employ them.

"In Jamaica, especially, we should stop focusing on the visual aspect of you and your appearance and more so what they bring to the business," Donaldson said.

"I've been to several banks where someone has, like, half-bald and the other side of their hair is, like, dyed red, but they were the one that provided me with the best service, so I don't see why I should really judge someone on their appearance."