Jeans seen as decline in standards

Press, 11 June 1980, Page 23

Jeans seen as decline in standards

By

KEN COATES

in London

More and more British office girls are zipping to work in jeans. How that is regarded depends on whether you are a secretary, boss, or perhaps male or female. The Institute of Administrative Management, which made a survey of attitudes in more than 900 offices, termed the jean trend a major decline in the standards of dress of office workers.

The survey showed that more than a third of the offices questioned allowed women to wear jeans to work. Only 7 per cent allowed them in 1974, compared with 36 per cent now.

Four out of five firms no longer require men to wear ties, and there has been a sharp decline in the number of offices requiring men to wear suits. Almost three-quarters insisted on suits in 1974, when the survey was last taken, compared with little more than half today. Most employers, it is

involve themselves in what reported, do not wish to they look on as matters of personal taste, but they say they need to present an appropriate image to customers and visitors.

“In spite of the supposed permissiveness of our times,” the survey finds that 35 per cent of employers do at times specify what they consider appropriate dress for office wear, whereas only 28 per cent did so in 1974.

But there are regional differences. For example, almost three-quarters of London employers expect men to wear suits to the office, compared with only a third tn Northern Ireland.

More employers are willing to allow their employees to use the firm’s telephones for incoming personal calls. Six years ago, 6 per cent allowed imcoming calls, compared with 87 per cent now.

Three-quarters of office workers enjoy at least four weeks holiday, and a quarter of firms help staff with the cost of season tickets to and from work.