Europeans Most Casual about Work Clothes
26 August 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A survey conducted by Ipsos/Reuters finds Europeans have the most casual attitude about dressing for work.
Only 27% of Europeans said they wear traditional business clothes to work (coats and ties for men, and dress suits for women). The survey indicates the most casually dressed workers are in Hungary, with only 12% reporting they wear “business clothes” to work, and 46% saying they think short pants are appropriate office attire. Hungary also led in the percentage of workers who believe it is appropriate to wear sandals or flip-flops to work, at 54%.
Only 16% of European respondents indicated casual dressers in the workplace are “slackers.” Europeans are split 50/50 on whether casual attire or business attire makes a worker more productive.
Swedes appear to have the most lenient attitudes proper attire for promotions, as only 27% said they believe casual clothing would hinder workers from attaining senior management positions. Only about a third of Europeans (36%) said people who wore casual business clothes in the office would probably not be hired or promoted into senior management positions. However, nearly six in ten (59%) indicated managers should always be better dressed than their employees.
More than 12,600 adults, ages 18-64 in the U.S. and Canada and ages 16-64 in 22 other countries, were interviewed for the survey. The 24 countries included Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the United States.
The full survey report can be downloaded from here. Free registration is required.
Rebecca Moore
editors@plansponsoreurope.com