Are visible tattoos fine now in the UK?

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Warm_Stress_1654@reddit

They seem to be almost obligatory for anyone younger than me. It will be funny if they ever go out of fashion.

I mean, when flairs went out of fashion, we all just went out and bought new jeans.

But imagine a permanent mark which shows your age.

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Special-Nebula299@reddit (OP)

They aren't as popular with the general z population

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Warm_Stress_1654@reddit

Then I look forward to chortling when self-conscious millennials start getting theirs removed.

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gnarlstonnn@reddit

yeah, as it turns out, they don't affect wether a person is capable of doing their job or not, crazy!

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It's the other way round. Do you want to hire someone who dresses in a way that might frighten some potential customers? They may be supremely competent but if they behave or dress in a potentially frightening way then you will think twice before hiring them because they don't empathise with your customer base.

I have people not wanting to work with me because of both my gender and my name. As they're paying customers it's their privilege.

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montyrattus@reddit

Nowadays only face tattoos tend to be job stoppers.

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TapWaterDev@reddit

I don't even think that's true in non-customer-facing roles anymore as long as they're not offensive

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Jacktheforkie@reddit

Or living in the southeast

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SoggyWotsits@reddit

Often hand tattoos too. The safe bet is nothing that can’t be covered with long sleeves and trouser legs.

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meatflaps-69@reddit

r/jobstopper should be a thing

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TapWaterDev@reddit

Yes, it's fine

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orangeytrees@reddit

No and yes. If you have two equally qualified candidates - one without and one with visible tattoos employers are likely to choose the one without. It's prejudice, it's unfair, but there it is.

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Diddleymaz@reddit

These days it’s pretty normal for someone to have tats . I’ve seen nurses and doctors with ink on arms and throat areas. One of my sons has a full sleeve on one arm. He’s going to get the other arm done too. So far there’s just one large tattoo on his lower arm. They’re all game/sci-fi related. The other son is into piercing and flesh tunnels.

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Historical_Owl2154@reddit

I'm a teacher and have 13 tattoos

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DollySheep32@reddit

I work in private healthcare, have two full black and grey sleeves and a hand tattoo - and no one cares. They're actually a really good talking point with my patients.

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zephyrthewonderdog@reddit

I was having surgery on my hand last year. Spent most of the time talking to the nurse about her elaborate sleeve dragon tattoo. I think she realised I was just distracting myself.

I now thoroughly approve of all healthcare professionals being heavily tattooed.

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DumCrescoSpero@reddit

Pretty much. The only places on the body that are still a bit iffy are hands and face, but it depends on what job you're going for.

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FootballFanInUK@reddit

New generations tend to want to differentiate themselves from what was come before. The next one might be against tattoos. It might not be fine in the future.

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PlainAsTea@reddit

No one cares.

As long as it’s not offensive content on the tattoo it’s okay for it to be visible.

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SoggyWotsits@reddit

They very much do care. People who have face/neck tattoos may well associate with other people who have the same or appreciate them at least. Stepping away from their usual circle they’d see that tattoos are still judged.

This was fairly recent, about the lady who got a new neck tattoo after her interview and promptly lost her job. Edit: apparently Reddit links aren’t working at the moment. If you search for ‘woman sacked over tattoos golf’ you’ll find it.

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PlainAsTea@reddit

Bless your heart sweetheart. She was discriminated against in the workplace. That’s illigal.

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SoggyWotsits@reddit

No, she wasn’t. An employer can actually legally sack someone if they turn up with a new tattoo that doesn’t conform to their dress code. Tattoos are not legally protected, they’re a choice.

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MoseSchrute70@reddit

Tattoos aren’t a legally protected characteristic. Employers have a place to ask you to cover your tattoos in the same way they can require you to wear a uniform.

Not saying they should, but it’s not illegal, especially when they’ve worked there less than 2 years.

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andyone100@reddit

Dunno, think I’d care if my teachers/Doctor/Dentist/Lawyer had a facial tattoo. It’s down to the individual.

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thewearisomeMachine@reddit

As a dentist (with no tattoos), what the fuck? Why would you care? Please actually explain your reasoning here

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andyone100@reddit

Because if you had a tattoo on your face I wouldn’t trust you to look after my teeth. It’s called prejudice. I’m not proud of it, but many people (especially of my generation, I’m in my 60’s) have this issue. Ask your parents.

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KybeRio@reddit

at least you're honest about being a bit of dick I guess

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EvilRobotSteve@reddit

With most working age people in the UK, it's probably rarer to find someone who has no tattoos at all. Tattoos in general became much less of a big deal, and so visible tattoos don't really bother anyone unless they're of a swastika or something equally offensive.

A face tattoo might still raise some eyebrows, but I don't even think that would make you as "unemployable" as it would in years past.

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Penrose522@reddit

Hard to find good data, but you gougov did a survey in 2022 and amongst working age it is still no more than about a third of people have any tattoos at all. We're never going to see the majority of people with them.

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EvilRobotSteve@reddit

Interesting. Of course I’m not gonna argue against hard data, but it’s totally not what I experience anecdotally. Maybe it’s a class thing, or an age thing, or where I’ve worked (retail to call centres to admin and accounts in a field where most people came up via the same path)

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St3lla_0nR3dd1t@reddit

Aesthetically no, culturally yes.

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Lozzybops@reddit

Yes. But I have come across tattoo artists who will decline to tattoo hands/necks/faces UNLESS you’re quite covered on the rest of your body

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Winkered@reddit

And so they should. Seems bloody silly to want a visible tattoo before anything else.

Have thirty tattoos.

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DinkyPrincess@reddit

And I think that’s fine.

Don’t get a throat tattoo as your first, children.

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FatherChristmas74@reddit

Easy to spot the rebelious individuals these days. Theyre the ones without tattoos.

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Special-Nebula299@reddit (OP)

Apparently its 50/50 on those who dont have any and those that do.

Surprisingly its gen z that aren't as into tattoos compared to us 25 to 40 year olds

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kumran@reddit

Another thing they don't have money for probably

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andyone100@reddit

Yes, Millennials were peak tat. I think it’s because kids don’t want to look like their parents, so the kids of peak tat Millennials are less likely to have them. I may be wrong, but peak tat couldn’t last forever.

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Special_Artichoke@reddit

Not surprising, who wants to have tattoos when mum and dad have them?? Ew

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Fred776@reddit

It's not that surprising given how ubiquitous they are amongst older people. Young people have always gone in the opposite direction to what they perceive as old fogey stuff.

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ChallengingKumquat@reddit

I think we are gradually coming to realise that appearance doesn't matter as much as we once thought it did. If a school teacher has a small heart tattooed behind her ear, it doesn't make her a terrible teacher. If an IT support worker has love and hate tattooed on his fingers he is still able to repair computers.

Whilst visible tattoos might still harm your chances in some jobs (eg barrister) they don't really matter in most jobs. But, that's highly dependent on the nature and extent of the tattoo; there's a difference between a small star on the collarbone, and skulls, daggers, and snakes covering half your neck/ face.

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o-yggdrasil@reddit

This reminds me of when I worked at Costa many years ago. My manager insisted I wear long sleeves to cover my tattoos and take my piercings out. Nowadays tats and piercings seem to be a requirement to be a barista.

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Alicam123@reddit

No one under 60 cares about most tattoos anymore unless it’s rasist/pedo stuff. Other than that we don’t care at all.

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Lukeautograff@reddit

As long as it’s not offensive why should it be an issue?

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Special-Nebula299@reddit (OP)

I feel like it used to have some stigma. Seems to have faded now

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improperble@reddit

Yes.

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Dense_Ad7115@reddit

Two full sleeves, my full chest and one leg tattooed. I work in a compliance role in an office in central London. No stigmas, even when I come in dressed in shorts + t-shirt.

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YchYFi@reddit

Yeah it's fine nowadays. Could even show them when working in M&S.

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UglyFilthyDog@reddit

What about Waitrose?

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greenneedleuk@reddit

The old girls on the tills are covered with anchors, swallows and love hate on their knuckles.

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greenneedleuk@reddit

IF they're not then we're royally fkd. lol.

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Grouchy-Reflection97@reddit

It probably depends on the job.

If you're a highly skilled heart surgeon or a bomb disposal expert born with the inability to feel fear, nobody will care if you have THUG LIFE tattooed on your forehead. Your appearance isn't a priority.

If you're in a job with a strict dress code and/or where appearance is a priority, that's when you might encounter some issues. Usually it's an issue in some customer facing jobs like the retail/food service industry, but not all of them.

As my career progressed (mostly cyber crime/anti fraud stuff) the more chill the dress codes got.

In one job, I was working with guys who looked like they should be roadies for Carcass, but they were in senior tech roles on ungodly salaries because of how skilled they were.

My advice, as a 48yr old lady with a god awful tramp stamp from 1995, lol, would be to wait until you're 30, when your brain has calmed down from youthful impulsivity and you generally know what you're doing with your life, then get whatever tattoos you want.

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Helicreature@reddit

As the wife of an Army Officer in bomb disposal. Firstly, they feel fear. Secondly, there is absolutely no possibility that anyone stupid enough to have ‘Thug Life’ or anything else for that matter tattooed on their forehead would be considered to have sound enough judgment to get anywhere near any explosive device.

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EngineersAnon@reddit

I don't know about "know[ing] what [I'm] doing with [my] life," but that's about how old I was when I got Ψ Φ tattooed on my upper arm.

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DinkyPrincess@reddit

Honestly I’ve seen plenty of front of house (fine dining Michelin star restaurants) in the UK with visible tattoos.

Same for stores regarding retail.

You’ll always risk an individual’s negative perception but it’s definitely widely normalised.

Almost like having pink hair and a range of tattoos never had any bearing on my career as a senior manager in Tech.

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Manifestival1@reddit

What? Logically a heart surgeon's appearance isn't a priority but they discuss things with their patients and family members of the patient and it would be incredibly disconcerting to have your prospective heart surgeon walk up to you with a forehead tattoo. Incredibly unprofessional and just wouldn't be something a surgeon would do. Ridiculous example.

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Gla2012@reddit

I am a teacher and many colleagues have visible tattoos. My wife work with ASN pupils who even try to colour in her tattoos.

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EngineersAnon@reddit

My wife work with ASN pupils who even try to colour in her tattoos.

Well, that's understandable. A lot of people just need a shoulder to crayon.

I'll get my coat.

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Fantastic-Speech-438@reddit

Yup, feels like everyone of a certain age has got them now.

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ElectricalPick9813@reddit

It seems that they are. I almost spilled my Earl Grey last Sunday evening when my eyesight was assaulted by a presenter on the BBCs Gardeners World with a whole sleeve of tattoos on her bare arms! Before the watershed as well!

Dear Points of View….

Signed, Disgusting of Tunbridge Wells

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BarryBigSpuds81@reddit

No only invisible

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EtoshaLeopard@reddit

Yes. For example a large proportion of the teachers my kid has had at primary school have had visible tattoos…

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Oh-reality-come-back@reddit

Tattoos have been alright for years as long you’re not showing off the whole piece and it’s not too eye catching

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Katticus_Woot@reddit

I would love my headteacher to take note of this however he is strictly in the no tattoos allowed on show for teachers camp

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CountofAnjou@reddit

I would still judge you, but society as a whole excepts it. But I think you might struggle in certain professions.

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Special-Nebula299@reddit (OP)

Do you tend to hate people with tattoos or see them positively? (Or dont care)

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CountofAnjou@reddit

I don’t hate them, but it feels like many people have them to create a uniqueness, because they lack self confidence.

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SkullDump@reddit

It’s more lax than it once was but it’s still very dependant on the profession.

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DinkyPrincess@reddit

It is but less so than before.

Police. Medical staff. Fine dining FOH. Corporate workers.

There will always be people with specific bias but broadly it’s incredibly normalised.

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twonaq@reddit

No more or less fine than they were in 2017

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dial424689@reddit

I am relatively heavily tattooed (for a woman, anyway) although I don’t have any on my neck, hands or face, I’ve got very noticeable ones on my arms (upper and forearms) and big colourful ones on my lower legs. Usually I wear 3/4 sleeve tops and thick tights at work but it was too hot today so I was in a strappy sun dress and literally not a single person cared.

I am also a careers advisor, so I don’t think it matters in most jobs, but I know it’s frowned upon in medicine and of course there are rules in the armed forces.

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SlickPillock@reddit

About 10 years ago you couldn't join the police force if you had a tattoo that was visible while wearing a short-sleeved uniform, but nowadays it's much more lax. In my opinion I doubt the police force would be relaxing the rule unless it was much more widely accepted within the general population

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FunkyYoghurt@reddit

If I recall you still can't work for the police if your visible tattoos are religious or political.

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SlickPillock@reddit

That's probably still true but I know that generic sleeve tattoos are somewhat acceptable now when they weren't before

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FunkyYoghurt@reddit

It's a lot more relaxed but I can't imagine looking like Oli Sykes and getting a job in a school.

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shauneok@reddit

Yes.

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limited_instincts@reddit

You know what they say. Face tattoos used to mean skinheads or ex-cons, now it means you're about to get a FANTASTIC latte.

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Special-Nebula299@reddit (OP)

I noticed a ton of men in the trades with them the most

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Jolly-Avocado0@reddit

They have been for years.

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Acceptable-Sentence@reddit

Depends on the job, and the tattoo

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Training_Yak_4655@reddit

Dear son got to about 35 without any tats, now he's got visible quite heavy shoulder and neck work. He's got a corporate job in the UK and travels internationally, eg France, for work, other countries in the Middle East and China are in prospect for the future. Now I'm wondering if his tats could affect the international aspect. Slightly off this topic I know but OP got me thinking.

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mattius_matteo@reddit

Is the neck work more on the clavicle region or actually visible on his neck above the shirt line?

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Training_Yak_4655@reddit

About shirt line.

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FutureThinkingMan@reddit

Yeah the job limitation idea is a fiction.

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NotNeuge@reddit

Lots of things are less taboo than they were a decade ago, but that isn't really the same as them being widely accepted as appropriate. You'd still be expected to not be covered in tattoos in most professional business environments, for example, and the type of tattoo is pretty important too.

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