IT staff get stressed over workwear choices, says report

[Flibb]

That was my light weight one, used when working with mostly toxic stuff. The heavy weight ones were used with a wide range of solvents, etc. Got out of that business now, just work with exciting gases.

[Spud1]

I really don't get the IT companies that force their internal staff to wear suits/shirts/ties etc - it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

At our place the rule is you can wear whatever you like as long as its not offensive, aside from when we have customers invited over in which case "smart casual" is the rule for developers/general IT staff and shirts/suits (no tie) for management. I'm CTO at that company and I spend 99% of my working life in Jeans + T-shirt, as does our CEO and COO. We're not particularly young/trendy or small - just have common sense throughout the company structure. Some of our devs like to wear a suit and thats fine..99% don't.

Especially in a marketplace like IT where jobs are ten a penny and you as a company have to actively try and retain your staff (particularly developers, who can walk into any of 10+ jobs on more money within seconds), I don't see the value in enforcing a smart dresscode..its bonkers imo!

[OilSheikh]

I work for a defense contractor. Our dress code in IT is shirt, trouser and black shoes. Fridays, are of course, dress down Fridays When I worked for investment banks, I had to come to work in a suit and tie. I could then leave my blazer on my chair while I walked around all day with the additional tie.

If you must get down and dirty, roll up your sleeves and kneel down on some newspapers.

[Unique]

most of these findings will be similar across a number of types of industry/job. when findings show small figures like 11% of people, it means the vast majority don't have a problem

everyone is going to have to spend money on clothing to wear to work unless you are given a uniform or you do sexcam work

i'd imagine most people don't like jobs where there is a dress code that means they can't just wear what they want, whether it's a tesco uniform or wearing a shirt and tie. ask the same questions to retail workers and you will probably get similar results. some will need to wear uniforms, others will be more vague, likewise catering. it's just another poll that's designed to get some cheap/free publicity for the business that most people skipped over and forgot the name already

[dannyboy75]

Only one thing I refuse to wear and that's a tie. Mainly because I haven't worn a tie for years, since an EU directive came in saying you couldn't make employees wear one.

There's also stuff about the tie being a symbol of the employee's subservience to their employer, like a leash thing, but I only trot that out when people mention me not wearing one. Me wearing a tie wouldn't make me any better at doing my job, in fact it would be a hindrance.

You make wearing a tie sound like some form of modern slavery, or as if it's on a par with women who end up with blisters, corns, and bloodied feet from being forced to wear heels all day!

[Csikasz]

no tie here either i've got the company to buy a dozen black shirts (no need to iron ones ) and a dozen black trousers with BIG pockets (for the smart phones ) and now all of us the engineers are happy

[Tunnah]

I can almost guarantee that the 30 grand figure came from what IT staff spent on clothes in the entirety of their career, not just for the job

[Millennium]

my last job was just no ripped jeans sensible clothing perhaps the odd shirt if meeting colleagues / other reps and only once was I asked to wear a tie to something and it wasn't a requirement and was no big deal. Was a good evening actually. Probably no old worn out smelly trainers. Now I remember, no sports team (like Leeds FC for example) tops either.

I think this is the way forward here.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

So basically over say 50 years,£30000 is £600/year??

That would buy you two cheapo suits a year from Debenhams,two pairs of smart shoes and a few shirts??

[peterb]

I wonder if the cause of stress is because there is no dress code - forcing a decision?

Personally I always found being under-dressed more embarrassing than being overdressed - where a suit and tie and its easy to dress down if required.

Of course, what is appropriate depends on a particular role - if you are the IT dept gopher, just delivering and plugging in PCs, a lab coat might be appropriate. If you are the IT director, then a suit and tie will be more appropriate when meeting suppliers (or if selling services) meeting clients.

[Corky34]

IDK what all the fuss is about, no ones ever commented, unwanted or otherwise, on my choice of mankini.

[Millennium]

I wonder if the cause of stress is because there is no dress code - forcing a decision?

Personally I always found being under-dressed more embarrassing than being overdressed - where a suit and tie and its easy to dress down if required.

Of course, what is appropriate depends on a particular role - if you are the IT dept gopher, just delivering and plugging in PCs, a lab coat might be appropriate. If you are the IT director, then a suit and tie will be more appropriate when meeting suppliers (or if selling services) meeting clients.

If you are so worried about what you're actually wearing that you are ironing a shirt and setting up a fancy tie / pants ensemble every day, *just to not have to worry about picking out the wrong T shirt or whatever* you're possibly in the wrong kind of environment. Now I don't dispute that this is not common and probably perfectly normal. But it's still strange that it leaves out a fair bit of self expression in a social work team situation.

[mark_a_scott]

What a load of crap! I have worked in 4 companies for the past 17 years and at no point have I had to think about what to wear. Trousers / Suit, shirt, tie. if you are in the DC then wear comfortable wear suitable for the environment / task.

[Wolfclaw]

I wear the company shirts and the wife full company uniform, both of us had a word with the tax man to get tax allowance for cleaning said clothing.

[iamlorro]

I really don't get the IT companies that force their internal staff to wear suits/shirts/ties etc - it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

At our place the rule is you can wear whatever you like as long as its not offensive, aside from when we have customers invited over in which case "smart casual" is the rule for developers/general IT staff and shirts/suits (no tie) for management.

At my old place, the boss I had had the view that "smart clothes = smart attitude to work" so insisted we wear tie + shirts. The rest of the company had policy that no tie was required. He tried to overrule an email from the COO at one point... but his backup mantra of 'dress for the job you want' fell apart when all of the senior management came in in jeans and tshirts!

The place I work now has a smart casual dress code - I turn up in shirts and smart stuff 1/2 the week just so that I don't get out of practice of wearing shirts (that and might as well use all the ones I had for my previous place!)

[souper]

Beat stress - ask your supervisor what would be the best workwear and go from there...