Sep 9, 2023 - Economy
Suits and ties disappearing from many office spaces, survey shows
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The percentage of workers adopting casual clothing at the office keeps growing, according to a new survey from Gallup.
- Why it matters: This is another trend that was already underway, then was accelerated by COVID — and isn't going back.
By the numbers: The survey, conducted in August, reflected that just 3% of all workers wear business professional attire to the office.
- Formal business attire has basically vanished in less than a generation and has seen a steady decline since Gallup first began asking about work attire in 2019. At that time, 7% of all workers reported wearing business professional attire to work.
- In the latest survey, business casual clothing -- like khakis, button-up shirts and sports coats -- was what most workers donned, especially among women.
- Men were almost evenly split between business casual (32%), casual street clothes (33%) and uniforms (31%).
- The number of Americans wearing casual street clothes to work is unchanged from 2019, Gallup data shows. But there's been a 7% uptick in workers wearing business casual attire to the office.
What they're saying: "The biggest distinction in work attire today is not between those dressed up versus dressed casually, but rather in the degrees of casual dress. For most workers, and particularly women, the choice is between business casual and street casual," Gallup wrote of the survey findings.
