As a young professional in the workforce, I know that I am in the minority when I say that casual attire has no place in a professional environment. After college, I job-hopped for a while before finally landing a promising position with a leading insurance company. The job required extremely infrequent face-to-face interaction with customers, so the dress code was business casual. I understood and appreciated this requirement. However, when the powers that be inexplicably abolished our dress code, I was shocked. The resulting change that I’ve seen in many of my colleagues has definitely been for the worse. On the most basic level, attire has transitioned to completely casual. Most employees wear jeans, and I’ve seen the occasional pair that looks more like it belongs in the trash can than at the office. Summer blouses have become more revealing. Footwear has become more beach-like. Questionable graphics, slogans, and political agendas are also in full display. In possibly the most disturbing fallout, when dressing up was thrown to the wayside, so, unfortunately, was a few people’s hygiene. The effect of the obvious change in attire is the resulting impact to the company’s image. While the dress code alone might not be a problem, it is somewhat startling in light of the fact that the small amount of customer contact has remained unchanged. Not to mention, employees dine out for lunch wearing their badges, and all of their neighbors know where they work. What kind of message does that send? Also, I can’t help but notice the disapproving looks from the local management, many of whom may not have been completely on board with the directive from corporate. Next, I’ll speak to productivity (mine included). It seems as though dressing casually has led to approaching other aspects of the job more casually as well. A general lack of formality has made people more inclined to chat with coworkers, surf the internet, and just generally blow off work. It also falls short of fostering a climate of respect for the company, its customers, and each other. I’m sure much can be said for the benefits of allowing employees to dress as they wish. There’s no doubt the higher-ups of my company did extensive research to evaluate the improvement to morale, reduced cost to the company, open lines of communication between employees and management, etc. However, those of us on the front lines know what’s really going on. While we enjoy coming to work in our slippers, these sunglasses are really just hiding the fact that we’re sitting here napping as we’re slumped down in our chairs after our two-hour lunch.