I was just updating my LinkedIn page and there was a quick poll that asked, “What is your ideal workday attire?” I answered and it brought me to the results page. Of 820 LinkedIn members who have answered the poll, 74% said jeans and a t-shirt would be their ideal work clothes, followed by 17% for a suit and tie; 6% for a driving suit and helmet; and 1% for a hardhat and steel-toed boots.
The results were largely the same regardless of company size. There was some variation by management level: 89% of business owners were jeans/t-shirt and only 61% of the C-Level and VPs were, while 28% percent of that group like their suits and ties, thanks very much. Eighty-four percent of women prefer jeans and 71% of men do. And when it comes to age, people age 25-54 answered jeans about 71%-76% of the time while people over 55 said jeans 65% of the time.
So what’s going on here?
Business certainly is more casual than years ago, but not jeans/t-shirt casual by and large. Is there a pent-up desire for more freedom, more entrepreneurship, more home-based business? Or is everyone just dreaming about changing their lives as they suit up in pin stripes? I think it could well be true that we’re seeing the early indicators of another wave of self-employment and business startups. With Detroit hanging by its fingernails and Wall Street in shambles, it’s no wonder.
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