Permanent Ink: A Special Report on Visible Body Art at Work & Job Trends for Q4 2016

Pacific Staffing Sacramento Quarterly Employment Trends

Job demand & hiring trends for local companies in the 4th Quarter of 2016 &

Permanent Ink: Special Report on ‘Body Art’ at Work

Generational change is often expressed in how styles affect people as fads come and go. How your appearance affects a career may not be front of mind, but first impressions are important in work. Employment often means change to meet company or corporate culture your career path requires. While clothing or hair styles are easy to change ‘body art’ like full sleeve, facial tattoos, piercing and ear gauging are more permanent. When asked ‘Is visible body art a positive or a negative in applicants?’ Sacramento’s top regional firms shared their opinions on this fad. Just ten percent (10%) felt body art was a positive in job applicants. The majority, sixty-five percent (65%) say body art is a negative!

Some didn’t answer, and over twenty percent (20%) also say that hiring applicants with body art might depend ‘on the job and the person’. When asked specifically, fifty-six percent (56%) say full sleeve tattoos were acceptable, but most placed them in field or non-public contact jobs, or required they be covered. Sixty-two percent (62%) polled say facial tattoos and ear gauging were unacceptable.

In anecdotal comments hiring professionals polled by Pacific Staffing say ‘covering it’, ‘extreme content’, specific safety and sanitary issues would also be factors. Contacted directly by phone between August 19 and September 22 some report having no formal policy regarding body art at work. However, those surveyed also were unanimous in declaring violent, gang-related images and other extreme tattoos, facial piercings or ear stretching/gauging as inappropriate for the workplace.

While four percent (4%) of Construction/Property Development companies plan to reduce workforce in October, November and December, primarily for seasonal change, sixty-seven percent (67%)

of Sacramento’s top firms are hiring thru Q4. Every Retail firm polled is hiring!

Workforce expansion continues in Q4 and hiring motivated by attrition forty-seven percent (47%) of regional demand. Fourteen percent (14%) also say seasonal needs are part of their hiring motivation.

Who? What? When? Where

High demand for sales crosses all industry sectors with customer service, IT, RN’s,

Class A drivers, accounting/finance, general office and cooks also sought by regional employers.

Workforce Challenge?

Pacific Staffing discovered wages, retention and qualified applicants concerns of regional employers in Q4. Some also say benefit enrollments, minimum wage changes and specific skills are challenges in the last quarter of 2016.

How does this Quarter compare to last Quarter, or last year? Find out for yourself.

For more information, employment blogs & market surveys go to www.pacificstaffing.com.

Sacramento Regional Top Companies Polled by Industry:

42% are Service, 28% are Manufacturers, 26% are Construction and 4% are Retail