HP Bans T-Shirts At Work

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How bad do you have to be dressing before the higher-ups at your job decide you need a dress code? :eek:

For a lot of programmers, especially in Silicon Valley, the trusted T-shirt-and-hoodie combo makes up the only work uniform they need. It's considered by many to be a perk of the job: Nobody cares how you dress for work, so long as you deliver.
 
A dress code is never a bad idea. Keeps people from looking like degenerate slobs and forces people to take showers.


I know the last part is shocking to most but you get some slovenly degenerate who thinks his eau de'man is just fine and you sit across from him and you'll be gagging like a SOB.

I have 0 problem with a lax dress code: Polo shirt, jeans on up. Suit and tie for R&D is stupid.
 
some people really take it too far. it starts off with simple shirts and then its ripped, dirty, offensive shirts with bare feet and no pants (seriously knew an engineer who would take his pants off in the office and sit there in his boxers).
 
Never a good idea to try herding technical people.Most can find a job elsewhere.
 
Must've gotten pretty bad for management to bother with this and felt they had to step in IMO.
 
Meh, HP sucks shit anyway. Hopefully this bites them in the ass somehow.
 
Bigdady92 said:
A dress code is never a bad idea. Keeps people from looking like degenerate slobs and forces people to take showers.


I know the last part is shocking to most but you get some slovenly degenerate who thinks his eau de'man is just fine and you sit across from him and you'll be gagging like a SOB.

I have 0 problem with a lax dress code: Polo shirt, jeans on up. Suit and tie for R&D is stupid.
Click to expand...

Forcing someone to wear a shirt and tie or polo shirts and khakis doesn't force them to take showers. Believe me, I've worked with many people in the IT industry who doesn't clean themselves up regardless of what they actually wear. All that shit does is make people less comfortable throughout their day.
 
looks like HP just needs to bring out a mandatory once a week hose off prison style instead to keep you filthy programmers in check.
 
I see no reason for non sales staff to be forced out of wearing t-shirts. Torn,dirty or inappropriate clothing aside.
 
Time for HP to fade into the night. Their computers are terrible these days anyway.
 
Dan_D said:
Forcing someone to wear a shirt and tie or polo shirts and khakis doesn't force them to take showers. Believe me, I've worked with many people in the IT industry who doesn't clean themselves up regardless of what they actually wear. All that shit does is make people less comfortable throughout their day.
Click to expand...

Back in the day I used to work with a guy who wore a three-piece every single day. Every single day his cologne got heavier until Thursday when his lack of bathing overwhelmed his morning cologne soak. Dude smelled like he drank Aqua Velva for three days a week and stank like a polecat's ass from Thursday on.

It makes me appreciate that I work outside now.
 
I used to work for HP. I saw plenty of people walking around in Cargo shorts, T-Shirt, and Flip-flops. It was too much even for me. I had to at least do a Jeans/Polo.

I think they kept trying to push their luck and it's finally coming back on them.
 
Dear IT: Welcome to the wonderful world of bring a professional. Now that your industry is growing up, now you will have to as well. It's time to realize that employers want their employees to dress like they respect their jobs and employers, as it reflects how much they respect the work that they do.
You will not be lessened by having to wear dress pants and a polo to work, but as a result may be able to demand better pay.

Welcome to the real world.
morpheus___the_matrix_by_benji3o3-d50bc8i.gif
 
Isnt this the same company that made a beeping noise if you walked too slow on the carpet? The lunk alarm of the IT field.

Then again i had engineers come in 3rd shift in pajamas and slippers, but hey its 3rd shift.
 
I'm a software engineer and typically wear t-shirt and shorts/jeans to work daily, although I work in manufacturing and that's how all the engineers dress (unless we're meeting with a client or traveling). Hell the owner and president of the company dresses that way too.

One of the perks of being in a small company I guess.
 
Back in early 2K a dotcom I worked for all of a sudden implemented the same policy, about a year before their stock tanked, they did heavy cutbacks and ended up closing the campus I worked at.
 
If you don't interact with clients, there's really no reason for anything stricter than a casual dress code.

For my last job, part of my responsibilities was the selection of some technology vendors. If I did an office visit at one and I saw people in engineering dressed up (happened a few times), I would assume the company got the bottom of the barrel.

If a developer is offered two jobs that are similar in pay and benefits, and one is jeans and the other is shirt and tie, NO developer will pick shirt and tie. Never.
 
Twisted Kidney said:
Back in the day I used to work with a guy who wore a three-piece every single day. Every single day his cologne got heavier until Thursday when his lack of bathing overwhelmed his morning cologne soak. Dude smelled like he drank Aqua Velva for three days a week and stank like a polecat's ass from Thursday on.
Click to expand...

Sounds like he would fit right in out here in California. Just saving water due to the drought :)
 
The HP dress code seems fairly liberal to me. You can buy collared shirts that are basically t-shirts. They still allow jeans too. It could be a lot worse.

Target went to a dress code of suit and tie for males at corporate some years back. They also allowed red polo shirts and kahki pants, but I suspect you would have probably gotten flak for wearing a red polo and kahkis every day. I heard they recently relaxed the dress code once again.
 
Modred189 said:
Dear IT: Welcome to the wonderful world of bring a professional. Now that your industry is growing up, now you will have to as well. It's time to realize that employers want their employees to dress like they respect their jobs and employers, as it reflects how much they respect the work that they do.
You will not be lessened by having to wear dress pants and a polo to work, but as a result may be able to demand better pay.

Welcome to the real world.
morpheus___the_matrix_by_benji3o3-d50bc8i.gif
Click to expand...

Ah. Ties are phony. Jewelry. Have nothing to do with one's abilities.
 
TechLarry said:
Ah. Ties are phony. Jewelry. Have nothing to do with one's abilities.
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct. BUT, if you had the option between two employees of similar ability, but one dressed and acted like a professional, and the other did not, which would you rather hire?
Similarly, if you are taking a client through your facilities, what do you think the client would like to see? A room of well groomed employees, or a bunch of adults dressed like college students?

And you can't forge the psychological impact. When people are dressed less casually, they act less casually. This can have all kinds of beneficial results in terms of lower rates of HR issues, greater accountability and increased work-ownership.

Now, that's not to say that a tie and suit are appropriate for all workplaces, but when you work in an office with other professionals, it's time to dress the part.
 
Programmers, IT staff with little to no customer contact? Keep them happy. Jeans & t-shirt. I'd be fine with no open toed shoes, as well. Going to ripped clothes, shorts, flip flops is a bit much, but maybe casual Friday. Polo's would be optional.

Anything customer facing, managerial, etc. should have a higher dress code.
 
Certain aspect of enforcing a dress code can be bad. A company I used to work for was bought out by another. Our company has field technicians who do a lot of manual labor such as installing video, audio and security system s in buildings. The other company was 100% white-collar and strictly enforced suit and tie at all times. Well, they enforced this draconian dress code on everyone. Even the field technicians and the warehouse staff. So our field tech were forced to wear suit and tie while installing these systems. Sometime through attics and non-air conditioned areas during the Texas summers. There were numerous complaints from our field techs and even some of our clients about the harsh dress code for the field techs. Management ignored them. Within two months, all the field tech quit and they were unable to hire any new ones. I wonder why. Most of the warehouse crew quit as well. With no field techs to provide services for malfunctioning or failed systems, within a year, the parent company dissolved our branch claiming that the branches services did not live up to their standards of quality service.
 
SRTie4k said:
I'm a software engineer and typically wear t-shirt and shorts/jeans to work daily, although I work in manufacturing and that's how all the engineers dress (unless we're meeting with a client or traveling). Hell the owner and president of the company dresses that way too.

One of the perks of being in a small company I guess.
Click to expand...

Software engineer for a government agency. I wear a t-shirt and jeans almost every day. I will dress up for important meetings but that is about it. It would suck to not wear t-shirts...
 
Modred189 said:
Absolutely correct. BUT, if you had the option between two employees of similar ability, but one dressed and acted like a professional, and the other did not, which would you rather hire?
Click to expand...

I'd spare the energy and time and find finer ways of measuring their skills.
 
Recently I went to London for a family trip. Walking around during the workday there I noticed a stark, stark difference between the attire for professionals there and here in my hometown of SF. London? Black suits and ties, business attire, everyone looks very professional. SF? T-shirts, jeans, unshaven, company branded sweatshirts, at best maybe a flannel shirt. Totally different atmosphere. Now given, London in particular is going to be more conservative in business attire than most US cities, but I imagine the professional business casual attire in SF would be jarring to almost anyone coming from almost anywhere else. Personally I prefer the more professional look.

The "laid back" tech attitude in general seems strange to me considering many of the tech people I know (mostly bigger companies) work extremely long hours for very demanding bosses in high stress work environments. The "cool young and hip pizza party/basketball hoop in the office" tech job is a thin veneer to me, from the outside looking in. I'm a lawyer and I work less than these folks do. Another illustration: in a fire drill in my office tower my office was sent downstairs to some tech office that had the whole floor. It was a totally open floor plan, with a pool table, a basketball hoop, a table full of candy and refreshments and bean bags everywhere, the whole deal. No one touching any of it. The employees? Huddled over in a corner on their computers furiously typing away, I don't even think they realized their was a fire drill.
 
illram said:
Recently I went to London for a family trip. Walking around during the workday there I noticed a stark, stark difference between the attire for professionals there and here in my hometown of SF. London? Black suits and ties, business attire, everyone looks very professional. SF? T-shirts, jeans, unshaven, company branded sweatshirts, at best maybe a flannel shirt. Totally different atmosphere. Now given, London in particular is going to be more conservative in business attire than most US cities, but I imagine the professional business casual attire in SF would be jarring to almost anyone coming from almost anywhere else. Personally I prefer the more professional look.

The "laid back" tech attitude in general seems strange to me considering many of the tech people I know (mostly bigger companies) work extremely long hours for very demanding bosses in high stress work environments. The "cool young and hip pizza party/basketball hoop in the office" tech job is a thin veneer to me, from the outside looking in. I'm a lawyer and I work less than these folks do. Another illustration: in a fire drill in my office tower my office was sent downstairs to some tech office that had the whole floor. It was a totally open floor plan, with a pool table, a basketball hoop, a table full of candy and refreshments and bean bags everywhere, the whole deal. No one touching any of it. The employees? Huddled over in a corner on their computers furiously typing away, I don't even think they realized their was a fire drill.
Click to expand...
THIS.
My last firm had its two floors above 4 floors of CDW sales and tech support offices. You always knew when they got off work becuase there was a flood of colored polos with HP, Sony, MS, APple etc logos on the front and shoulder. All wearing jeans and sneakers. Meanwhile, we're wearing suits or dress pants and button-down shirts.
 
Mungojerrie said:
Software engineer for a government agency. I wear a t-shirt and jeans almost every day. I will dress up for important meetings but that is about it. It would suck to not wear t-shirts...
Click to expand...

IT for the DOJ. We have a dress code but no one follows it.
 
Bigdady92 said:
A dress code is never a bad idea. Keeps people from looking like degenerate slobs and forces people to take showers.


I know the last part is shocking to most but you get some slovenly degenerate who thinks his eau de'man is just fine and you sit across from him and you'll be gagging like a SOB.

I have 0 problem with a lax dress code: Polo shirt, jeans on up. Suit and tie for R&D is stupid.
Click to expand...

Attitude makes the person not the clothes on their back. People who are comfortable are more productive. I'm more productive at my new job where I wear shorts and sandles than I was at my old job in khakis and a polo.

Dan_D said:
Forcing someone to wear a shirt and tie or polo shirts and khakis doesn't force them to take showers. Believe me, I've worked with many people in the IT industry who doesn't clean themselves up regardless of what they actually wear. All that shit does is make people less comfortable throughout their day.
Click to expand...

So much this.

Modred189 said:
Dear IT: Welcome to the wonderful world of bring a professional. Now that your industry is growing up, now you will have to as well. It's time to realize that employers want their employees to dress like they respect their jobs and employers, as it reflects how much they respect the work that they do.
You will not be lessened by having to wear dress pants and a polo to work, but as a result may be able to demand better pay.

Welcome to the real world.
morpheus___the_matrix_by_benji3o3-d50bc8i.gif
Click to expand...

You can't make me join the real world. If IT has to join the real world time for a career change.

Ur_Mom said:
Programmers, IT staff with little to no customer contact? Keep them happy. Jeans & t-shirt. I'd be fine with no open toed shoes, as well. Going to ripped clothes, shorts, flip flops is a bit much, but maybe casual Friday. Polo's would be optional.

Anything customer facing, managerial, etc. should have a higher dress code.
Click to expand...


I'm wearing a button down with my shorts and flip flops does that count for anything.
 
illram said:
Recently I went to London for a family trip. Walking around during the workday there I noticed a stark, stark difference between the attire for professionals there and here in my hometown of SF. London? Black suits and ties, business attire, everyone looks very professional. SF? T-shirts, jeans, unshaven, company branded sweatshirts, at best maybe a flannel shirt. Totally different atmosphere. Now given, London in particular is going to be more conservative in business attire than most US cities, but I imagine the professional business casual attire in SF would be jarring to almost anyone coming from almost anywhere else. Personally I prefer the more professional look.

The "laid back" tech attitude in general seems strange to me considering many of the tech people I know (mostly bigger companies) work extremely long hours for very demanding bosses in high stress work environments. The "cool young and hip pizza party/basketball hoop in the office" tech job is a thin veneer to me, from the outside looking in. I'm a lawyer and I work less than these folks do. Another illustration: in a fire drill in my office tower my office was sent downstairs to some tech office that had the whole floor. It was a totally open floor plan, with a pool table, a basketball hoop, a table full of candy and refreshments and bean bags everywhere, the whole deal. No one touching any of it. The employees? Huddled over in a corner on their computers furiously typing away, I don't even think they realized their was a fire drill.
Click to expand...

Don't judge a book by its cover
-George Eliot
 
Mungojerrie said:
Software engineer for a government agency. I wear a t-shirt and jeans almost every day. I will dress up for important meetings but that is about it. It would suck to not wear t-shirts...
Click to expand...

Software engineer for a government agency here as well..but we have an unwritten dress code rule of polos + khakis... jeans + t-shirt are OK on Fridays.
 
The problem isn't t-shirts and jeans. The problem is people wearing t-shirts and jeans that don't even fit or look like they came from Walmart.
 
DeChache said:
You can't make me join the real world. If IT has to join the real world time for a career change.
Click to expand...

Yup. I went through the art program in college so my fallback makes web dev look like wallstreet :D

I am going to dress the way I want. I want to be comfortable, goddammit.
 
A dress code for people who aren't public facing, and when it's not due to addressing problems with people wearing inappropriately revealing clothing, means management has no ideas.
 
I too develop software, I work in shorts, t-shirt, and flip flops. This would suck if I had to change. As long as people don't stink or have offensive clothing I don't see how this helps anything at all.
 
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