No room in the workplace for tattoos and piercings

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Facial piercings and tattoos may be becoming more common and prominent -- but that doesn't mean they are any more accepted in the workplace, according to a new study.

Visible body art is often still seen as unprofessional and unwanted by coworkers, researchers from Texas State University found, with people saying they would rather not work with someone with piercings and tattoos when face-to-face contact with customers is required.

"Our analysis suggests that body art wearers have not yet overcome employment prejudices, and that they may have simply punctured their employment possibilities," said Brian K. Miller, who headed the research team.

"People tend to prejudge people with body art because it has created a bit of a stigma that is historically based, in that tattoos were, to be really stereotypical, worn by motorcycle-riding outcasts," Miller added.

In the study more than 150 people were given the scenario of selling business insurance. The researchers found even those who had piercings and tattoos themselves were critical of others with body art.

Some people said they did not want to share sales commissions with body art wearers, as they are concerned they could negatively impact their own job performance.

While only one percent of Americans had a tattoo 30 years ago, by 2006 the number had jumped to 24 percent, according to data published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

The trend is most prevalent with young people, Miller said, with approximately 16 percent of people aged 18 to 24 sporting both tattoos and piercings.