Woman With Multiple Face Tattoos & Piercings Says She’s Having A Hard Time Finding A Job After T.J. Maxx Rejects Her
She pointed out that her tattoos and piercings have no basis for how efficiently she can do a job.
BAZA Production / Shutterstock Despite tattoos becoming more common and less taboo than they once were, it seems certain people still have reservations about hiring those who have them, especially on their faces.
Such was the case for a woman named Ash Putnam, who revealed in a TikTok video that she was struggling to get hired because of her appearance.
With multiple face tattoos and piercings, she admitted that it's hard to find a place that will hire her after being rejected by T.J. Maxx.
Putnam explained that she wanted to discuss a topic that has constantly annoyed her. It has to do with how her tattoos and piercings seem to stand in the way of her being hired. Some time ago, she applied for a job at T.J. Maxx, but her application was rejected without explanation.
She decided to go into the store and ask why and was told that she didn't have enough experience compared to other applicants. While Putnam was assured that the reason she wasn't hired had nothing to do with her tattoos and piercings, she wasn't convinced.
"I'm just wondering how teenagers and young adults who haven't had a job before ... how are they supposed to get employed?" Putnam questioned. "I mean, I do okay with money as is, so I didn't need the job, but I would have liked to have made some extra money."
It doesn't help that many companies refuse to hire young adults, especially Gen Zers. According to a survey conducted by Resume Builder, 36% of hiring managers said they were biased against Gen Z candidates. In comparison, 34% said they had concerns about hiring candidates over the age of 60.
However, Putnam pointed out that she knows her tattoos make her an outlier when it comes to being considered for roles. It's an outdated way of thinking, and as Putnam said, having tattoos and piercings doesn't mean she'll automatically be less qualified for a position over someone who either doesn't have tattoos or has them in places that aren't visible.
Putnam defended people with tattoos and claimed that some of the smartest people she's met have them.
It's an unjust level of discrimination that people with tattoos and piercings have to be subjected to. While Putnam explained that she doesn't need the money from a job and makes quite enough in her other endeavors, it still doesn't excuse the biases perpetuated by employers based on appearance.
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Daniela Herrera, a talent and recruitment expert and founding partner of Allies in Recruiting, told Business Insider that prejudice and discrimination throughout the hiring process are often because of unfair gender and societal expectations.
"Beauty and appearance biases play a huge role in how women are perceived and treated in the workplace," she told the publication, adding that hiring managers "still uphold very outdated and inequitable stereotypes and biases at work."
"I've seen hiring managers reject candidates based on the clothes they wear to an interview, the color of the candidate's hair, their tattoos, or their physical attributes," she continued. Many of these old-fashioned ideologies sometimes even exist within the workplace, as employers can use these attributes to decide who will receive promotions, pay raises, and other rewards or incentives.
There are many people out there who have to struggle and make ends meet just because no one will hire them due to tattoos, piercings, or other physical attributes that are dictated as not being "professional enough." By shutting the door on these people, companies could be depriving themselves of valuable additions to their teams, and refusing to look past someone's physical appearance will only hinder seeing more growth. It's time that employers look beyond their superficial judgments and embrace uniqueness and self-expression in all forms.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.