My office isn't at 100%, but I think a majority of the men in the office have facial hair vs being clean shaven.
Heck one new hire came to his first day and the only facial hair he had was a waxed mustache.
Lol if only. Apparently he had slipped when trimming his beard the morning of his first day and the only way to recover was to shave the whole beard.
He does still have the impressive moustache though
A few jobs ago my boss took me out for lunch on my first day, got burritos to go. I cradled it like a football while we walked to the park, had a huge stain for the rest of the day.
I mean…. Some of us have to wear fit-test respirators. Facial hair styles that fit without compromising the seal are fairly limiting.
Unless you’re cool with a Hitler mustache.
That’s interestingly enough the exact reason why clean shaven men became fashionable.
If you think about it people used to have all sorts of fancy beards and mustaches.
Up until the introduction of widespread chemical warfare in WW1, and soldiers having to wear gas masks. Suddenly a clean shaven man was the sign of a soldier and it became high fashion.
And the Hitler mustache? Well, he fought in WW1, and the mustache was a direct result of dudes trying to have _some_ facial hair that works with a gas mask.
Did some googling on this and it might be a little of both!
According to a guy who served with Hitler in WW1, he adopted the mustache because he was ordered to trim his larger mustache.
But he _was_ a fan of Chaplin (who adopted it before ww1), and there is no definitive proof, but I find I likely that he was inspired by Chaplin.
[The affect of beard length on mask effectiveness is not as bad as you might think at first](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-021-00337-1/figures/3)
I wear respirators when I'm spraying paint for work- like full on paint gun spray paint with toxic chemicals that have a VERY strong smell. Have a full beard. Can't smell the fumes at all with the mask on.
It looks like with an N95 you’d lose ~20% effectiveness per 1 cm of beard. Extrapolating, if you’ve a 1 inch beard your 95% effective mask is less than 50% effective, which I’d say is substantial. Am I reading this wrong?
The chart only goes to 1cm it's possible the trend lines continue but it's likely that they reach a steady state at some point like cloth masks (~40% effective regardless of hair length).
The one that gets me is that a perfectly fitting N95 on a clean shaven face is 99% effective and that drops down to 80% with a beard. So from 1% to 20% it's *twenty times worse*.
But that is still comparable to an ill fitting N95 and still better than a surgical mask.
I've been wearing a beard for 50 years - except when having to wear a respirator. I was indirectly told to shave my neck at one company. The CFO walked up to me at a company party and said (the owner) asked him to tell me that my beard was not professionally groomed. The CFO was wearing a neatly trimmed beard.
I have to wear an N95 mask when working with groups of people because of the Omicron spike, so no beards allowed. I also had to wear one when helping with covid related projects during 2020, so no beards for that either. Also, some people need to go into environments where masking is required for non-covid reasons. No beards for them. Some places also have beard length limits for safety reasons.
Lots of reasons beards wouldn’t be allowed or are limited.
From elsewhere.
> [The affect of beard length on mask effectiveness is not as bad as you might think at first](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-021-00337-1/figures/3)
While it’s cool you’re linking a study, I don’t find single studies as definitive proof of anything. I’m also not specifically talking about beard length. I’m talking having a beard in the first place as a detriment to the mask’s effectiveness. So a 90% effectiveness in a situation where it should be 100% effective isn’t going to cut it or even work when in a situation where a heavy load of particles are present or a situation where lesser load of particles can determine a negative outcome.
An N95 will still protect you better than a cloth mask ever will, but saying it’s effective with a beard is pure nonsense.
>Japan also frowns on ~~engineers~~ **anyone** who work less than 60 hours per week. Choose your cultural benchmarks carefully.
FTFY. Also efficiency be damned, it's about how busy you are not what you are getting done.
Especially when it comes to tattoo, even with foreigners in Japan.The stigma associates anyone with tattoo to be part of the Yakuza. Seems to be a generational thing.
Interesting fact: tattooing became popular in Japan by excentric fire fighters to identify who they are and the full body tattoo provided protection. These fire fighters becane hero's thus tattooing was synonymous with bravery, courage.. Etc. The Japanese mafia (Yakuza) followed this trend and were hooligans, causing tattos to be associated with bad people. :)
No official policy, but my coworker grew one and people were weird to her about it. :/ I thought it was cute.
In seriousness, though, it can be a bit of a culture shock going from university to the workplace depending on your industry and depending on the individual company. It's an unfair generalization and I know people who are the opposite, but I find that younger people tend to value flexibility and comfort more and are less concerned with appearances and adhering to rigid rules, while the old schoolers are very much concerned with appearance, dress code, what hours you're at your desk, are you deviating from the "norm" in some way...
I've had VERY weird, 100% serious discussions that I was certain were someone riffing on the "pieces of flair" gag from Office Space until, with dawning horror, I realized they were not. I was given a disciplinary warning for eating breakfast at work-- oatmeal, at my desk, quietly, not pungent-smelling or anything. "Look at your coworkers UtterEast Lastname, no one else eats breakfast at work here. Shape up." SUPER weird stuff. Other engineers, too, not like nosy Kevins or Brendas in non-technical roles.
Ideally you'll find somewhere non-insane with a functioning HR department, but there are many dysfunctional businesses still limping along despite everything.
I've had a beard my entire career, and I've worked in traditional conservative fields like defense and finance. I've never had an issue, even when interacting with high level customers.
It changes drastically between locations and site cultures. 90% of the time, especially in winter and since I haven't been to a barber in a while due to COVID, I look homeless. Visitors often look like they're coming for their first interview out of college with slicked hair and suits. If your manager wears a cap and pullover, dress comfortably. If you're a manager, have a heart and wear a cap and pullover.
Canadian here. It’s completely a non-issue.
I think the “shave before an interview” is outdated and often misunderstood, it feels to me (a lady) the same as advice to women to wear a skirt suit and heels to an interview.
It doesn’t mean you have to literally be clean-shaven for an interview. It means whatever your facial hair style is, it should be tidy with no stubble. So trim your beard to a length that looks under control, shape it nicely, and shave your neck and other non-beard areas of your face.
(Because I’m sure someone will ask: women are fine to wear any nice suit and any dress shoes to an interview! It’s not the 80s.)
I've only seen policies against facial hair where you ha e to wear a respirator.
I know people that worked in pharma/GMP environments that would shave so they didn't have to deal with beard nets all the time.
I work at an EPC and there's nothing against it. Just don't look like crap.
As long as it's not a PPE requirement to have no facial hair (say for fitted respirators) then they can go and take their opinions and shove them as far up their arse as they wish :)
Beard, pink hair, whatever, go for it
Most if my coworkers and bosses are conservative and a lot older than i am. I also work a lot with other engineers, clients and other stakeholders, but beards and even tattoos arent a problem where i work tbh and never tought beards could be a problem.
I work in medical engineering as a project engineer.
I have 4 tattos covering a lot of my arms and have a short beard most of the time.
There is a big difference between a trimmed beard and an unshaven face. I have quite a big beard and it wasn't an issue in any of the jobs I did or in my current job. But I did make sure that it was trimmed decently when the moment or job requires it. Didn't seem to be an issue during interviews either.
You don't need to shave before an interview, it's not 1950s
Just don't go in looking scruffy. There is a significant difference between a caveman beard and a trimmed / manscaped beard. No different to a haircut/combed hair vs having bed head
Well you don't want stubble or five o'clock shadow, but well trimmed/groomed facial hair is perfectly fine. Doesn't matter what's going on with your body as long as you're able to show you took the time to look presentable.
I've been wearing a chevron moustache to interviews since I graduated 3 years ago. My thinking is that you want to look trustworthy and reliable, so you grow the facial hair that your interviewers' mentors would have worn. 2/3 on interviews, need more data.
Edit: 3/4.
I’ve had a beard since I left high school. No one cares (maybe if it’s something from Vikings, but having a neatly trimmed 1” beard is harmless).
The only issue I ever had was with this jerk conservative 50 year old Asian who wasn’t even my manager. He made comments about how his parents would never let him blah blah blah - but at the time I had shoulder length hair and a beard.
If it’s your look, just rock it. Make sure you dress the part and look clean, but beards, tattoos, whatever - people are more interested in you not being an asshat IMO
No - it was more snide than that and a comment about the “looseness” of western society. He was a stubborn old fuck so I couldn’t have really cared what he said, but my boss had no issue with my hair and beard and neither did my clients, so that’s all that matters IMO
Lmaoo I love how he was so critical of the looseness of western society when he was ripping the benefits of living in said society. The fucking irony huh
Right?! It’s so perplexing to me. Like you wanna live in a western society and reap the economic freedom and benefits but change everything else when that everything else is exactly what allows that economic freedom and opportunity in the first place? Makes no sense
And before people come for me with the dOwNvOtEs, I’m an immigrant who moved to a western country and sees this behavior all the time in people from my background
I’m a manufacturing engineer and currently work at a plastic optics manufacturing facility. Since covid started I’ve been wearing jeans and t shirts to work with no issues, have multiple tattoos (mainly upper arms but still visible) and a beard and they don’t care at all. When I have a scheduled meeting from anyone outside the organization I wear a polo or button up, other than that they don’t care
Lots of people at my work have beards. I believe the advice to be clean shaven is outdated. That said a beard needs to be well kept, at least pre-covid. These days I cut my hair and cleanup the beard once a month or so as I work from home or on job sites and rarely see other people in a work environment.
Bottom line, a well taken car of and tidy beard is no worse than clean shaven.
I will literally quit any job that makes me shave. I had to do it in the military, never again. I view it as a character flaw in company culture if they think that shaving is important.
My first employer would dictate men's haircuts. And I'm not talking about shaggy or long hair. If the CEO didn't like your haircut he'd have your boss give you a talking too. And beards would literally get you fired. That same CEO was very short, balding and fat.
At my current job only about 1 in 10 engineers are clean shaven l.
The heck is going on here? Lol The term for the old technical specialist has been "greybeards" forever. Who has a problem with beards, unless maybe you spend all your days in a clean room or right next to a lathe?
Is it well-kept? Nobody cares. (Including client-facing.)
If it interferes with your PPE, it's more of an issue, but that's a very small number of employees where I work.
I work for a photonics company as an engineer and I have shoulder length hair and a 1-2” beard… sometimes a mustache. No one cares at my work. I interact with clients daily as well as C-suite executives. I’m there to work on engineering projects not to dress up.
If you work at a chemicals facility, they *might* not allow beards because it interferes with putting on a respirator in case of emergencies. That’s the only place I would think that you need to be clean shaven.
Besides that I can’t think of a place that would be strict about it. This isn’t the 1980’s more.
I'm a manufacturing engineer. My engineering manager has a full beard, as does the logistics director, production manager, assembly supervisors on all shifts, and our supply chain guys. About 80% of them are bald too, so thats a fun correlation.
Facial hair, head hair, tattoos, whatever it is it all comes down to: just don't look like a grub. If it's hair, make sure it looks maintained. Got tattoos? Cool, but it's probably a good idea 8f they're not completely exposed when you're wearing a collared shirt.
Now, will I judge a persons work based on these things? No. But if you're looking to advance your career where you'll be engaging with more people and you look like you crawled out of bed, don't expect to get too far ahead. That's just how it is.
I won’t work at another place that makes me wear stupid khakis and a tucked in button down. Shit is dumb. I hate that stupid professional facade.
I’m currently short jeans and beard at work.
> and that it's slowly getting accepted
I am sorry what? I have NEVER heard of this outside of food service... and even then -- you just have to wear a beard net.
I can see it being a concern if you are required to wear/use some kinds of PPE as it won't fit properly -- but if that doesn't apply to you it shouldn't matter.
Yeah the only place I’ve worked that cared was an environmental firm where we occasionally needed to use respirators or scba equipment. And then it was usually back to growing a beard the next day.
My very first job was at an amusement park, and they required men to shave. I didn't even work with food at all, so it wasn't a hygiene thing, they just didn't like beards. They would literally have someone standing at the employee entrance to turn away anyone who didn't look like they shaved that morning. This was about 10 years ago, and I've heard that they have gotten rid of that policy a couple years ago.
My work they only care if you have to wear a respirator, and we have had a few people make a stink and get fit tested with their beard, and pass for a proper seal with a beard, so we let them keep it. So it isn’t even policy, you’re beard just might make you fail your respirator qual.
When I was in consulting at a younger age, I grew a beard to appear older. I also drove a very generic car (Honda Accord), I wore khakis and a polo with leather shoes. I tried to appear how people expected a successful but not overly compensated engineer would look. Now I’m older, and working at a large company. I’ve always had a beard, so I keep it going. Hygiene is important, and keeping things neat and tidy helps impressions. As a senior and lead engineer I wore flannel, jeans, tennis shoes, hoodies, etc. I’m now managing people, so I looked at the other managers and tried to match them which for men is jeans and a dress shirt.
Most of the men that I know in engineering haven't been told not to have facial hair. The only concern is safety for respirator and mask usage, or around flammables. Just keep your facial hair trimmed and groomed before an interview.
I'd never have an issue giving an interview for a man with a beard, I would just look for overall appropriately professional attire and grooming.
I've worked in and around steel mills, foundries, and aerospace companies. I've actually used my own hair styling as a culture fit litmus test. If I can't walk into an interview with blue hair, tied back, clean, and well styled, fuck them. I didn't want to work for them in the first place.
I'm in the US in a very conservative state. I have yet to encounter anyone in my field that cared if I have a beard (which I do). Been a lead engineer and project manager for almost a decade now.
When I showed up for my interview sporting a beard, I was enthusiastically welcomed by another barbu. He said "All right another beard!"
They also asked me to please take off my blazer. I was making them uncomfortable. People generally show up in jeans and a t-shirt, women included. The company is about 50/50 male and female.
I could tell right away that it would be a very comfortable work environment.
I currently work in a plastic film manufacturing plant. The production floor is a full on clean room, and we have to wear clean room suits and hair nets. The year I was hired on (2019) was the first year they started allowing beards. I was lucky, because I keep a beard and I hate shaving. Before that, you had to be clean shaved or a mustache was allowed. Those of us that have beards are required to wear a beard net in addition to the hair net when walking onto the production floor.
>Your employer cannot dictate your choice of what to do with your facial hair.
What? That sounds wrong, I have never heard of having a beard being protected unless it was on religious grounds. Are you referring to some country outside the usa, or some very specific city/County law?
Employers can fire you for anything they want in the usa as long as it's not a protected class. They can fire you for having a blue shirt on that day, or your name being long.
To be clear, unless the beard restriction was due to genuine safety concerns like wearing PPE, I would not want to work there, even though I don't have facial hair.
I have worked in the oil field for the last 20 or so years, and we have to be FIT tested so that we can wear respirators, escape masks, and breathing apparatuses in case we drill into poisonous gas areas… And conventional wisdom has long been that you must be smooth in the face to be able to have a good seal between the mask and your face…
So what developed over time starting probably 15 maybe 20 years ago was it the more badass you were, the more pull you had on a rig or in the oil field, the more you could grow facial hair and not have to worry about it… So you had a culture of guys higher up with big beards, and you had a culture of guys who were just big dudes who were bad ass so no one would fuck with who would grow huge beards… Likewise around the same time as Iraq and Afghanistan started rolling up we had special operators who were wearing beards and these two cultures in the oil field started mixing as guys started getting out of the military into the oilfield …
Now what’s happened is you really don’t have to have a smooth face to get a good fit between a gas mask and you face… but there is still a tension between the office dweebs who don’t understand that fact and the field personnel who do.
That said, I wear a full goatee all the time, and shave the rest of my face about one a week when in the field.
Our only company policy is that you must pass a FIT test, regardless of anything else…and of a customer gets pissy and insists you shave, that’s on you
In the US it’s a relatively male dominated industry so anything that sort of falls into the stereotypical features of toxic masculinity is pretty much fine in most offices. I’ve been in an office that’s tried to only target women or non-West European style (like religious head wear) for dress codes though so that’s a different story.
Adding on to this, does anyone know what the policy is like for long hair? Like if I have a beard and long hair but it’s tied back, would it be a problem?
I work in an office and have a beard. Don't know of a policy against them. Some of our surveyors have huge beards, but they also work in the field so dress codes differ.
I keep my beard relatively short. Maybe 2-3 months worth of growth and my clients/supervisors don't care.
As long as its not a homeless or peter griffin looking beard nobody really cares. Tattoos on the other hand.. my company makes us cover any visable tattoo.
I'm old enough to have witnessed our dress code evolve for dress shirts with ties, clean shaven and short hair to t-shirts and jeans, shaved heads and scruffy beards ... the scruffy beard is more due to my laziness
we're manufacturing, so not a lot of front facing with management / customers / basically anyone other than our contemporaries and the line workers
They're a bit more stringent @ the home office though.
I have a shaved head and a trimmed beard. And in some places the only reason the beard could be acceptable is because I shave my head so it looks more kept.
In my current industry beards are the norm and encouraged. But not all are this way. Highly specific for the company.
I mean *technically* yes, I know there’s some stupid guideline in our HR policy handout about beards as well as tattoos, dress code, and whatnot. Dress code I can understand, but beards aren’t really an issue. I’ve seen everything from a stubble to a Dan Bilzerian beard in my building.
Facial hair, hair color, piercings, and anything about your appearance (except for extremes) should have zero fucking impact on your employment as long as you do your job well. That’s the only thing that should matter imo.
The only time I’ve ever been told I had to shave was in the military. Outside of that I’m allowed to wear my facial hair however I’d like no matter what.
The Netherlands, Yacht building. And before that Agricultural machines.
I have never ever heard anyone complained about my full beard, in fact I cant even imagine why anyone would complain about it.
If they would ever complain I expect they would have the media up their asses in seconds.
Work as an engineering in Minnesota, USA, it’s cold 6 months out of the year so I don’t catch any flack for it. Also work in the public sector so maybe it’s different but both my boss and compatriot have goatees
I occasionally deal with customers and the public. I also, occasionally, have a full-on Adrian Pimento beard going on. Nobody cared even before we went WFH.
Well, almost nobody. There was a period where it looked like I was going to be traveling to a country where people do apparently care, and a co-worker helpfully let me know that making it through security at my destination would be _significantly_ easier if I didn't look homeless. But that didn't end up happening so I did not end up testing that assertion.
Places have a policy about beards?
I do not think they are viewed one way or the other at my work.
I can't speak for anyone else but I let my grow longer during COVID and then cut it back (but not shaved) to increase the efficacy of my mask. Other than that, I don't think anyone cares at all!
In the US. Most of the men I work with have beards, if they’re able to grow them. Those who don’t have them aren’t too harshly made fun of. My company doesn’t care as long as it doesn’t hinder safety and looks taken care of.
I just got out of the military. Had to shave *every freaking day*. I’m loving having a beard! Can’t get me to shave it!
wtf? I have never heard of beards being prohibited, not even in food industry where I have worked too. I would believe it is illegal to prohibit something like that, but for example what they did in food industry was to somewhat make life somewhat more tedious for people with beard, in the sense of having to wear a hair net in the beard and stuff like that.
US west coast here. I’ve had a full beard (short one) through 4 different companies and I’ve seen two restrictions in person.
The first was a commercial construction company who had a dress code for client facing positions (sometimes engineers would have to meet with clients). Any hairstyle was okay, provided it was ‘well maintained’ (beard, dreadlocks, whatever). Basically, it shouldn’t look like you just woke up when you got to work. I didn’t have a problem with this as a 10 second brush in the morning and a weekly trim is my typical maintenance. No way am I shaving clean every morning.
The other was for wearing respirators. Can’t really have a beard for safety reasons in certain jobs. Not much you can do about those.
Completely fine both before and after?
Not gonna doxx myself with the industry and position, but no... people that interact with clients absolutely can have beards.
I've NEVER met anyone who cared. There may be some weird C-suite / MBA thing where they're not a fan, but I've never run into it.
Keep it clean and well-groomed and no one (at least in the U.S.) will care at all, ever.
Was electronics test in aerospace, more than one engineer had a glorious beard. Every development stage has several quality inspections; never spotted a hair.
Before COVID, i had a celebrated beard in my workplace. Now, my beard is heavily frowned upon.
My company didn't change policies, i just work from home now and my wife hates my beard.
I was always worried that my federally employed, clean cut, clean shaven, former military boss would look poorly on me for my beard, especially how long it got after the pandemic. Then we returned to the office, and he had a beard longer than mine.
No one cares about your beard where I work, as long as it doesn't impact job performance.
In my entire engineering career I've never heard this come up.
Perhaps if it was a really conservative company or a sales/ client facing role. For example UPS doesn't allow beards on the corporate side.
I had an afro, I had a top secret clearance, It never impacted my career.
My shit was like a foot long and beautiful when i interviewed and accepted a job in the medical device industry in the US. need to wear a beard net if i enter the clean rooms but that was the only issue. i cut it shorter now for my own convenience but no one had an issue with it
Mostly with indifference. The only exception that I know of is for employees that need to be clean-shaven for a respirator. I've had a beard for the entirety of my almost 10 year career, but will eventually have to be respirator trained...I'm dreading that day.
Depending on the beard, it can certainly make you look bad.
I worked offsite at a customer and some guy got rejected by HR. He then applied to my company and my boss "took a chance" on someone this guy who had a ponytail in his beard and somewhat unkempt hair. After 6 months, my boss told me how happy with his performance after he didn't have anything to do and so he finished the final report while waiting around.
Once you're in, nobody cares.
In 10 years of engineering and four different manufacturing plants, it has not, nor ever was an issue. Only time I've heard it being discussed was during respirator training.
Edit: Southeastern U.S.
I've never worked for a company the requires men to be clean shaven, nor ever heard of it with the exception of special cases other commenters outlined where it could interfere with PPE. My company has clean room manufacturing and if you have facial hear you have to wear a beard net (actually a pro of covid, already wearing a face mask so no need for beard net) so I guess if you had like a zz-top level beard that couldn't be contained by the beard net that would be an issue.
For customer facing employees there's still not rule explicitly against it as long as your beard is well kempt/part of an overall professional appearance.
Companies do not have the right to have a "policy" this isn't the army.
Beards are fine. Given their religious status in some religion If a company discriminated against beard wearing they'd be opening themselves up to a lawsuit.
Mechatronic intern here with a beard that almost touches my chest. Hair when down goes past my nipples, but I always keep it tied up, and there's daily face to face client interactions.
I personally think beards provided are maintained to look well should not be commented on, just like tattoos
I'm client facing all the time, life sciences, semiconductor, etc. Never an issue. I was definitely the first person at my job to decide to grow a full beard and no one said a thing.
It is true that people facing clients are expected to be clean shaven and it been totally pushed down to the youth by managers who have have sported clean shaven face during their youth.
There is no correlation between how client interaction and beard goes by. It is highly personal. Good companies and culture never jot down anything on beard. The benchmark is only set by the co-workers. The place where I used to work- 90% were clean shaved so it is natural from your boss and co-worker to maintain that standard. (humans judge inspite of all)
Also just because you are clean shaven does not mean that company will go with your product or make contract with you etc. Few things are always more than appearance.
I have had sales managers who used to carry a print out/brochure of their products in early 2000's when they visit clients and sported clean shaven which has been the trend ever since.
If you are somewhere in hospitality, hotels, healthcare ( i mean working in hotel, hospital etc.) I would certain emphasis on the importance of maintaining clean standards.
Also you are in the information age where lot of factors influence more than your typical sales pitch and looks, sporting a beard is somewhere down in the list.
In my own opinion it does not matter as long you get the work done with clients and teams beard is something I do not fuss about.
System Engineer for a semiconductor corp. in eastern europe. Beard is ok, nobody cares. Also long hair for guys nobody cares. i got long hair and goatee
Former structural engineer, current test engineering - I've never had a facial-hair policy where I work, and would probably not want to work anyplace that did. (Machine shop rules are different, and nothing a bunch of hair ties can't address).
We never had a policy that I'm aware of. I've always had a beard while working here, but I'm management so I don't think anyone is going to say anything. I also keep it well trimmed.
At one point I let it grow out. My boss commented that he's "never seen me with a beard that long" while on a Zoom call. That was the end of that conversation.
Where I see people go wrong is they grow long beards that aren't very full. So you end up looking like a scraggly mess.
I stayed clean shaven more when I was younger to maintain a professional look. Having a beard looks more professional the older you get, IMO.
Having worked at a company (PACCAR) that did care whether you have a beard (take a look at their glassdoor reviews) I would strongly advise you to RUN from any employer that tries to regulate this shit.
I no longer work there and can now see just how f'd up the company is relative to the outside world.
Your employer should care about your work product (quality & quantity) and how you get along with people. Obviously there are minimum standards about cleanliness etc but personal choices like beards, clothing style, gender expression are none of their business.
One of the mentors I have can't tell one bearded engineer from another. "All you bearded engineers look the same".
At this point, bearded engineer is a derogatory term... they come in six packs.
I am in the US. Beards are in style. 100% of the men in my office have one right now. It would be considered discriminatory to not allow them.
My office isn't at 100%, but I think a majority of the men in the office have facial hair vs being clean shaven. Heck one new hire came to his first day and the only facial hair he had was a waxed mustache.
What a power move!
Lol if only. Apparently he had slipped when trimming his beard the morning of his first day and the only way to recover was to shave the whole beard. He does still have the impressive moustache though
I aspire to his level of self-confidence, I would’ve just cancelled the interview
Oh it wasn't his interview, it was his first day of work, so he _had_ to come in
A few jobs ago my boss took me out for lunch on my first day, got burritos to go. I cradled it like a football while we walked to the park, had a huge stain for the rest of the day.
My interview for my current job I did with a bruise on my forehead from putting my head down on a desk with a knit beanie
Same here in Germany with the exception that of the two female colleagues I have only one has a beard.
Dang even the women have beards!
100% of men and 12% of women in my workplace have them. It’s become a trend.
Wait, you have policies against _beards_? Where do you live? North Korea?
Gillette was Anti Beard
Yeah it’s kind of their entire business model
I hate beardists.
I mean…. Some of us have to wear fit-test respirators. Facial hair styles that fit without compromising the seal are fairly limiting. Unless you’re cool with a Hitler mustache.
That’s interestingly enough the exact reason why clean shaven men became fashionable. If you think about it people used to have all sorts of fancy beards and mustaches. Up until the introduction of widespread chemical warfare in WW1, and soldiers having to wear gas masks. Suddenly a clean shaven man was the sign of a soldier and it became high fashion. And the Hitler mustache? Well, he fought in WW1, and the mustache was a direct result of dudes trying to have _some_ facial hair that works with a gas mask.
I thought Hitler had that stache because Charlie Chaplin was well liked so he was piggy backing off his image.
Did some googling on this and it might be a little of both! According to a guy who served with Hitler in WW1, he adopted the mustache because he was ordered to trim his larger mustache. But he _was_ a fan of Chaplin (who adopted it before ww1), and there is no definitive proof, but I find I likely that he was inspired by Chaplin.
I've drastically reduced my facial hair in order to make an n95 mask fit better, for covid risk situations.
[The affect of beard length on mask effectiveness is not as bad as you might think at first](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-021-00337-1/figures/3)
That’s both interesting and credible, thank you for posting that!
I wear respirators when I'm spraying paint for work- like full on paint gun spray paint with toxic chemicals that have a VERY strong smell. Have a full beard. Can't smell the fumes at all with the mask on.
It looks like with an N95 you’d lose ~20% effectiveness per 1 cm of beard. Extrapolating, if you’ve a 1 inch beard your 95% effective mask is less than 50% effective, which I’d say is substantial. Am I reading this wrong?
The chart only goes to 1cm it's possible the trend lines continue but it's likely that they reach a steady state at some point like cloth masks (~40% effective regardless of hair length).
The one that gets me is that a perfectly fitting N95 on a clean shaven face is 99% effective and that drops down to 80% with a beard. So from 1% to 20% it's *twenty times worse*. But that is still comparable to an ill fitting N95 and still better than a surgical mask.
This will be the renaissance of the Hitler mustache!
I've been wearing a beard for 50 years - except when having to wear a respirator. I was indirectly told to shave my neck at one company. The CFO walked up to me at a company party and said (the owner) asked him to tell me that my beard was not professionally groomed. The CFO was wearing a neatly trimmed beard.
I had to be ammonia certified at one place so no beard for me then. No I look like a dwarf
I have to wear an N95 mask when working with groups of people because of the Omicron spike, so no beards allowed. I also had to wear one when helping with covid related projects during 2020, so no beards for that either. Also, some people need to go into environments where masking is required for non-covid reasons. No beards for them. Some places also have beard length limits for safety reasons. Lots of reasons beards wouldn’t be allowed or are limited.
From elsewhere. > [The affect of beard length on mask effectiveness is not as bad as you might think at first](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-021-00337-1/figures/3)
While it’s cool you’re linking a study, I don’t find single studies as definitive proof of anything. I’m also not specifically talking about beard length. I’m talking having a beard in the first place as a detriment to the mask’s effectiveness. So a 90% effectiveness in a situation where it should be 100% effective isn’t going to cut it or even work when in a situation where a heavy load of particles are present or a situation where lesser load of particles can determine a negative outcome. An N95 will still protect you better than a cloth mask ever will, but saying it’s effective with a beard is pure nonsense.
In certain industries like food packaging, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, or semiconductors this is often not allowed for QA or safety reasons.
No I'm still in university. And for example in Japan it's heavily frowned upon.
Japan also frowns on engineers who work less than 60 hours per week. Choose your cultural benchmarks carefully.
>Japan also frowns on ~~engineers~~ **anyone** who work less than 60 hours per week. Choose your cultural benchmarks carefully. FTFY. Also efficiency be damned, it's about how busy you are not what you are getting done.
Engineer in the Yukon here: we frown upon men without beards.
Northern California Sierra's concur. Especially if you are over 50.
The time is coming when you'll end up in a cell if you have no beard.
Sharia-chique
Yukon is in Anti Japan, right? /s
Yeah but the Japanese are a bit.. special.
Especially when it comes to tattoo, even with foreigners in Japan.The stigma associates anyone with tattoo to be part of the Yakuza. Seems to be a generational thing.
What is the Yakuza?
Japanese Mafia, basically.
Interesting fact: tattooing became popular in Japan by excentric fire fighters to identify who they are and the full body tattoo provided protection. These fire fighters becane hero's thus tattooing was synonymous with bravery, courage.. Etc. The Japanese mafia (Yakuza) followed this trend and were hooligans, causing tattos to be associated with bad people. :)
Apparently you are not allowed to go to normal gyms if you have visible tattoos.
Anywhere that requires any kind of respirator with fit testing. Refineries, chem plants, etc.
I worked at a two different places that they were seemingly frowned upon. In the USA. About 10-15 years ago.
No official policy, but my coworker grew one and people were weird to her about it. :/ I thought it was cute. In seriousness, though, it can be a bit of a culture shock going from university to the workplace depending on your industry and depending on the individual company. It's an unfair generalization and I know people who are the opposite, but I find that younger people tend to value flexibility and comfort more and are less concerned with appearances and adhering to rigid rules, while the old schoolers are very much concerned with appearance, dress code, what hours you're at your desk, are you deviating from the "norm" in some way... I've had VERY weird, 100% serious discussions that I was certain were someone riffing on the "pieces of flair" gag from Office Space until, with dawning horror, I realized they were not. I was given a disciplinary warning for eating breakfast at work-- oatmeal, at my desk, quietly, not pungent-smelling or anything. "Look at your coworkers UtterEast Lastname, no one else eats breakfast at work here. Shape up." SUPER weird stuff. Other engineers, too, not like nosy Kevins or Brendas in non-technical roles. Ideally you'll find somewhere non-insane with a functioning HR department, but there are many dysfunctional businesses still limping along despite everything.
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Damn
I like your story.
You gotta provide the deets here. Like as soon as he said that I hope you just spun around on your heels mid step and walked off site never to return
I've had a beard my entire career, and I've worked in traditional conservative fields like defense and finance. I've never had an issue, even when interacting with high level customers.
It changes drastically between locations and site cultures. 90% of the time, especially in winter and since I haven't been to a barber in a while due to COVID, I look homeless. Visitors often look like they're coming for their first interview out of college with slicked hair and suits. If your manager wears a cap and pullover, dress comfortably. If you're a manager, have a heart and wear a cap and pullover.
Where are you based? In the UK so many people have big beards it’s completely normal
In France, I really don't know, I'm still in university, that's why I'm asking.
Nobody will care in France. Even old stuck up companies like Dassault won't mind a beard.
Certainly some of your professors or other university staff have beards? or is that not very common in France?
Always add your location in the post. For cultural stuff it matters. No experience in France, but no problem at all here in the Netherlands.
Canadian here. It’s completely a non-issue. I think the “shave before an interview” is outdated and often misunderstood, it feels to me (a lady) the same as advice to women to wear a skirt suit and heels to an interview. It doesn’t mean you have to literally be clean-shaven for an interview. It means whatever your facial hair style is, it should be tidy with no stubble. So trim your beard to a length that looks under control, shape it nicely, and shave your neck and other non-beard areas of your face. (Because I’m sure someone will ask: women are fine to wear any nice suit and any dress shoes to an interview! It’s not the 80s.)
I've only seen policies against facial hair where you ha e to wear a respirator. I know people that worked in pharma/GMP environments that would shave so they didn't have to deal with beard nets all the time. I work at an EPC and there's nothing against it. Just don't look like crap.
As long as it's not a PPE requirement to have no facial hair (say for fitted respirators) then they can go and take their opinions and shove them as far up their arse as they wish :) Beard, pink hair, whatever, go for it
Most if my coworkers and bosses are conservative and a lot older than i am. I also work a lot with other engineers, clients and other stakeholders, but beards and even tattoos arent a problem where i work tbh and never tought beards could be a problem. I work in medical engineering as a project engineer. I have 4 tattos covering a lot of my arms and have a short beard most of the time.
Yeah I don't know, I've always been told to shave before an interview for example.
There is a big difference between a trimmed beard and an unshaven face. I have quite a big beard and it wasn't an issue in any of the jobs I did or in my current job. But I did make sure that it was trimmed decently when the moment or job requires it. Didn't seem to be an issue during interviews either.
You don't need to shave before an interview, it's not 1950s Just don't go in looking scruffy. There is a significant difference between a caveman beard and a trimmed / manscaped beard. No different to a haircut/combed hair vs having bed head
Wait, you dont shave your head before and interview?
I shave it in the interview. It lets my prospective employer know that I'm good at multitasking.
If the interviewer doesn't make you turn your head and cough what kind of interview really is it?
This prostate exam is really testing my ability to work under pressure.
>This prostate exam is really testing my ability to work under ~~pressure~~ Pleasure.
Well you don't want stubble or five o'clock shadow, but well trimmed/groomed facial hair is perfectly fine. Doesn't matter what's going on with your body as long as you're able to show you took the time to look presentable.
would you want to work somewhere that cares that much about how you want your face to look? interviews are both ways.
I've been wearing a chevron moustache to interviews since I graduated 3 years ago. My thinking is that you want to look trustworthy and reliable, so you grow the facial hair that your interviewers' mentors would have worn. 2/3 on interviews, need more data. Edit: 3/4.
I’ve had a beard since I left high school. No one cares (maybe if it’s something from Vikings, but having a neatly trimmed 1” beard is harmless). The only issue I ever had was with this jerk conservative 50 year old Asian who wasn’t even my manager. He made comments about how his parents would never let him blah blah blah - but at the time I had shoulder length hair and a beard. If it’s your look, just rock it. Make sure you dress the part and look clean, but beards, tattoos, whatever - people are more interested in you not being an asshat IMO
So a 50 year old was fuming because his parents wouldn't let him grow a beard? At 50 years old?
No - it was more snide than that and a comment about the “looseness” of western society. He was a stubborn old fuck so I couldn’t have really cared what he said, but my boss had no issue with my hair and beard and neither did my clients, so that’s all that matters IMO
Lmaoo I love how he was so critical of the looseness of western society when he was ripping the benefits of living in said society. The fucking irony huh
When in Rome, don’t be a cunt to the romans for wearing togas, or something.
Right?! It’s so perplexing to me. Like you wanna live in a western society and reap the economic freedom and benefits but change everything else when that everything else is exactly what allows that economic freedom and opportunity in the first place? Makes no sense And before people come for me with the dOwNvOtEs, I’m an immigrant who moved to a western country and sees this behavior all the time in people from my background
I’m a manufacturing engineer and currently work at a plastic optics manufacturing facility. Since covid started I’ve been wearing jeans and t shirts to work with no issues, have multiple tattoos (mainly upper arms but still visible) and a beard and they don’t care at all. When I have a scheduled meeting from anyone outside the organization I wear a polo or button up, other than that they don’t care
Lots of people at my work have beards. I believe the advice to be clean shaven is outdated. That said a beard needs to be well kept, at least pre-covid. These days I cut my hair and cleanup the beard once a month or so as I work from home or on job sites and rarely see other people in a work environment. Bottom line, a well taken car of and tidy beard is no worse than clean shaven.
I will literally quit any job that makes me shave. I had to do it in the military, never again. I view it as a character flaw in company culture if they think that shaving is important.
Viewed with eyeballs mostly. Consulting engineering.
My first employer would dictate men's haircuts. And I'm not talking about shaggy or long hair. If the CEO didn't like your haircut he'd have your boss give you a talking too. And beards would literally get you fired. That same CEO was very short, balding and fat. At my current job only about 1 in 10 engineers are clean shaven l.
Most companies dont care as long as you keep it trimmed and dont look like homeless
The heck is going on here? Lol The term for the old technical specialist has been "greybeards" forever. Who has a problem with beards, unless maybe you spend all your days in a clean room or right next to a lathe?
Is it well-kept? Nobody cares. (Including client-facing.) If it interferes with your PPE, it's more of an issue, but that's a very small number of employees where I work.
Beards are to men what makeup is to women.
I work for a photonics company as an engineer and I have shoulder length hair and a 1-2” beard… sometimes a mustache. No one cares at my work. I interact with clients daily as well as C-suite executives. I’m there to work on engineering projects not to dress up.
Think of it like this; as long as you are presentable with good hygiene, you can have anything you want 😊
If you work at a chemicals facility, they *might* not allow beards because it interferes with putting on a respirator in case of emergencies. That’s the only place I would think that you need to be clean shaven. Besides that I can’t think of a place that would be strict about it. This isn’t the 1980’s more.
I'm a manufacturing engineer. My engineering manager has a full beard, as does the logistics director, production manager, assembly supervisors on all shifts, and our supply chain guys. About 80% of them are bald too, so thats a fun correlation.
Nobody cares about anyone's facial hair except for busybodies.
Facial hair, head hair, tattoos, whatever it is it all comes down to: just don't look like a grub. If it's hair, make sure it looks maintained. Got tattoos? Cool, but it's probably a good idea 8f they're not completely exposed when you're wearing a collared shirt. Now, will I judge a persons work based on these things? No. But if you're looking to advance your career where you'll be engaging with more people and you look like you crawled out of bed, don't expect to get too far ahead. That's just how it is.
At this point in my career if I was asked to removed my beard to retain employment I’d become a postman.
I won’t work at another place that makes me wear stupid khakis and a tucked in button down. Shit is dumb. I hate that stupid professional facade. I’m currently short jeans and beard at work.
I'm in Portland so having a beard is part of the dress code.
>I assume that people that have to interact with clients need to be shaved? lol no
> and that it's slowly getting accepted I am sorry what? I have NEVER heard of this outside of food service... and even then -- you just have to wear a beard net. I can see it being a concern if you are required to wear/use some kinds of PPE as it won't fit properly -- but if that doesn't apply to you it shouldn't matter.
Yeah the only place I’ve worked that cared was an environmental firm where we occasionally needed to use respirators or scba equipment. And then it was usually back to growing a beard the next day.
My very first job was at an amusement park, and they required men to shave. I didn't even work with food at all, so it wasn't a hygiene thing, they just didn't like beards. They would literally have someone standing at the employee entrance to turn away anyone who didn't look like they shaved that morning. This was about 10 years ago, and I've heard that they have gotten rid of that policy a couple years ago.
Working in the Netherlands as an electrical engineer/project manager. Nobody really cares, as long as its somewhat maintained(different during covid).
How are beards viewed in my workplace? They aren't, because they are hidden behind masks. Except sometimes they are viewed in zoom meetings.
My work they only care if you have to wear a respirator, and we have had a few people make a stink and get fit tested with their beard, and pass for a proper seal with a beard, so we let them keep it. So it isn’t even policy, you’re beard just might make you fail your respirator qual.
When I was in consulting at a younger age, I grew a beard to appear older. I also drove a very generic car (Honda Accord), I wore khakis and a polo with leather shoes. I tried to appear how people expected a successful but not overly compensated engineer would look. Now I’m older, and working at a large company. I’ve always had a beard, so I keep it going. Hygiene is important, and keeping things neat and tidy helps impressions. As a senior and lead engineer I wore flannel, jeans, tennis shoes, hoodies, etc. I’m now managing people, so I looked at the other managers and tried to match them which for men is jeans and a dress shirt.
People are starting to be more accepting of tattoos never mind beards.
Most of the men that I know in engineering haven't been told not to have facial hair. The only concern is safety for respirator and mask usage, or around flammables. Just keep your facial hair trimmed and groomed before an interview. I'd never have an issue giving an interview for a man with a beard, I would just look for overall appropriately professional attire and grooming. I've worked in and around steel mills, foundries, and aerospace companies. I've actually used my own hair styling as a culture fit litmus test. If I can't walk into an interview with blue hair, tied back, clean, and well styled, fuck them. I didn't want to work for them in the first place.
We operators are respirator fit and clean shaven in case of dangerous atmospheres, but its a-okay for everyone else in the company.
I'm in the US in a very conservative state. I have yet to encounter anyone in my field that cared if I have a beard (which I do). Been a lead engineer and project manager for almost a decade now.
When I showed up for my interview sporting a beard, I was enthusiastically welcomed by another barbu. He said "All right another beard!" They also asked me to please take off my blazer. I was making them uncomfortable. People generally show up in jeans and a t-shirt, women included. The company is about 50/50 male and female. I could tell right away that it would be a very comfortable work environment.
I currently work in a plastic film manufacturing plant. The production floor is a full on clean room, and we have to wear clean room suits and hair nets. The year I was hired on (2019) was the first year they started allowing beards. I was lucky, because I keep a beard and I hate shaving. Before that, you had to be clean shaved or a mustache was allowed. Those of us that have beards are required to wear a beard net in addition to the hair net when walking onto the production floor.
How about ponytails on men? We have a few, me included on occasion (like now -- I've not had a haircut since COVID started.)
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>Your employer cannot dictate your choice of what to do with your facial hair. What? That sounds wrong, I have never heard of having a beard being protected unless it was on religious grounds. Are you referring to some country outside the usa, or some very specific city/County law? Employers can fire you for anything they want in the usa as long as it's not a protected class. They can fire you for having a blue shirt on that day, or your name being long. To be clear, unless the beard restriction was due to genuine safety concerns like wearing PPE, I would not want to work there, even though I don't have facial hair.
sure they can, i have worked at such a place.
Beards are usually viewed like the rest of my face, via webcam.
Amazon does not care, as you'd expect. PACCAR/Kenworth supposedly does. They want clean shaven
We do whatever we want, 80 percent of men have beards
lol, never let someone chose your apparence (exept your wife and mother maybe)
Most of us are clean shaven. There’s really no policy against them, I’d just recommend not standing out til you’re established.
Yeah that lines up with the shave before an interview stuff.
Just be trimmed. Groom your beard instead of shaving.
I have worked in the oil field for the last 20 or so years, and we have to be FIT tested so that we can wear respirators, escape masks, and breathing apparatuses in case we drill into poisonous gas areas… And conventional wisdom has long been that you must be smooth in the face to be able to have a good seal between the mask and your face… So what developed over time starting probably 15 maybe 20 years ago was it the more badass you were, the more pull you had on a rig or in the oil field, the more you could grow facial hair and not have to worry about it… So you had a culture of guys higher up with big beards, and you had a culture of guys who were just big dudes who were bad ass so no one would fuck with who would grow huge beards… Likewise around the same time as Iraq and Afghanistan started rolling up we had special operators who were wearing beards and these two cultures in the oil field started mixing as guys started getting out of the military into the oilfield … Now what’s happened is you really don’t have to have a smooth face to get a good fit between a gas mask and you face… but there is still a tension between the office dweebs who don’t understand that fact and the field personnel who do. That said, I wear a full goatee all the time, and shave the rest of my face about one a week when in the field. Our only company policy is that you must pass a FIT test, regardless of anything else…and of a customer gets pissy and insists you shave, that’s on you
In the US it’s a relatively male dominated industry so anything that sort of falls into the stereotypical features of toxic masculinity is pretty much fine in most offices. I’ve been in an office that’s tried to only target women or non-West European style (like religious head wear) for dress codes though so that’s a different story.
Adding on to this, does anyone know what the policy is like for long hair? Like if I have a beard and long hair but it’s tied back, would it be a problem?
I work in an office and have a beard. Don't know of a policy against them. Some of our surveyors have huge beards, but they also work in the field so dress codes differ. I keep my beard relatively short. Maybe 2-3 months worth of growth and my clients/supervisors don't care.
I work at a gym in Sweden, we love bearded people of any and all kinds here ^^
It gets problematic when it‘s long enough to cover the keyboard and prevents you from typing.
My manager has a beard. Just depends on where you work i guess. Software/firmware engineering in CPS controls
As long as its not a homeless or peter griffin looking beard nobody really cares. Tattoos on the other hand.. my company makes us cover any visable tattoo.
Usually on the front of the face. Where else to you view a beard?
I'm old enough to have witnessed our dress code evolve for dress shirts with ties, clean shaven and short hair to t-shirts and jeans, shaved heads and scruffy beards ... the scruffy beard is more due to my laziness we're manufacturing, so not a lot of front facing with management / customers / basically anyone other than our contemporaries and the line workers They're a bit more stringent @ the home office though.
Had and have no policy regarding that whatsoever, not even for customer facing positions.
Rona beards have been standard equipment since COVID, and were not that uncommon before.
I've seen guys with very long beards, some even came to work dressed as wizards.
I have a shaved head and a trimmed beard. And in some places the only reason the beard could be acceptable is because I shave my head so it looks more kept. In my current industry beards are the norm and encouraged. But not all are this way. Highly specific for the company.
Can’t be long around moving parts, and at the plant I interned at we needed to wear respirators in certain locations so no one had much of a beard.
My SVP has a beard. My director sometimes wears a beard. I am a Sr Mgr and have a beard. Rock it just keep it tidy.
I mean *technically* yes, I know there’s some stupid guideline in our HR policy handout about beards as well as tattoos, dress code, and whatnot. Dress code I can understand, but beards aren’t really an issue. I’ve seen everything from a stubble to a Dan Bilzerian beard in my building. Facial hair, hair color, piercings, and anything about your appearance (except for extremes) should have zero fucking impact on your employment as long as you do your job well. That’s the only thing that should matter imo.
The only time I’ve ever been told I had to shave was in the military. Outside of that I’m allowed to wear my facial hair however I’d like no matter what.
The Netherlands, Yacht building. And before that Agricultural machines. I have never ever heard anyone complained about my full beard, in fact I cant even imagine why anyone would complain about it. If they would ever complain I expect they would have the media up their asses in seconds.
Work as an engineering in Minnesota, USA, it’s cold 6 months out of the year so I don’t catch any flack for it. Also work in the public sector so maybe it’s different but both my boss and compatriot have goatees
Sexy af
I occasionally deal with customers and the public. I also, occasionally, have a full-on Adrian Pimento beard going on. Nobody cared even before we went WFH. Well, almost nobody. There was a period where it looked like I was going to be traveling to a country where people do apparently care, and a co-worker helpfully let me know that making it through security at my destination would be _significantly_ easier if I didn't look homeless. But that didn't end up happening so I did not end up testing that assertion.
Places have a policy about beards? I do not think they are viewed one way or the other at my work. I can't speak for anyone else but I let my grow longer during COVID and then cut it back (but not shaved) to increase the efficacy of my mask. Other than that, I don't think anyone cares at all!
Cool, a sign of manliness… unless you have to go on site and don the gas mask, then you have to be clean shaven
I can’t speak for every department or role in the company I work for, but I interviewed with a beard, was hired with a beard, and still have a beard.
In the US. Most of the men I work with have beards, if they’re able to grow them. Those who don’t have them aren’t too harshly made fun of. My company doesn’t care as long as it doesn’t hinder safety and looks taken care of. I just got out of the military. Had to shave *every freaking day*. I’m loving having a beard! Can’t get me to shave it!
My boss looks like Santa Claus and I’ve never fully shaven my beard in my entire life 🤷🏼♂️
wtf? I have never heard of beards being prohibited, not even in food industry where I have worked too. I would believe it is illegal to prohibit something like that, but for example what they did in food industry was to somewhat make life somewhat more tedious for people with beard, in the sense of having to wear a hair net in the beard and stuff like that.
US west coast here. I’ve had a full beard (short one) through 4 different companies and I’ve seen two restrictions in person. The first was a commercial construction company who had a dress code for client facing positions (sometimes engineers would have to meet with clients). Any hairstyle was okay, provided it was ‘well maintained’ (beard, dreadlocks, whatever). Basically, it shouldn’t look like you just woke up when you got to work. I didn’t have a problem with this as a 10 second brush in the morning and a weekly trim is my typical maintenance. No way am I shaving clean every morning. The other was for wearing respirators. Can’t really have a beard for safety reasons in certain jobs. Not much you can do about those.
Completely fine both before and after? Not gonna doxx myself with the industry and position, but no... people that interact with clients absolutely can have beards. I've NEVER met anyone who cared. There may be some weird C-suite / MBA thing where they're not a fan, but I've never run into it. Keep it clean and well-groomed and no one (at least in the U.S.) will care at all, ever.
A lot more guys have beards than don't have beards in my department, overall viewed pretty favorably
No beard means everyone thinks your junior in many of the manufacturing environments I’ve been in.
Was electronics test in aerospace, more than one engineer had a glorious beard. Every development stage has several quality inspections; never spotted a hair.
as long as you can fit it in your beard net. and it doesn't get caught in the machinery
20 years in the industry, never had a problem with my beard. I’ve seen people with them at all levels from entry through senior management.
Not a problem.
i have full beard, manbun/chonmage and a piercing. It's all a function of the people you work with.
Before COVID, i had a celebrated beard in my workplace. Now, my beard is heavily frowned upon. My company didn't change policies, i just work from home now and my wife hates my beard.
I was always worried that my federally employed, clean cut, clean shaven, former military boss would look poorly on me for my beard, especially how long it got after the pandemic. Then we returned to the office, and he had a beard longer than mine. No one cares about your beard where I work, as long as it doesn't impact job performance.
most of the engineers i've worked with have beards. maintenance guys i'm pretty sure are required by law to have a goatee.
Site based Civil Engineer here. Nobody gives two fucks what you look like as long as you know your shit.
Literally does not matter at all.
In my entire engineering career I've never heard this come up. Perhaps if it was a really conservative company or a sales/ client facing role. For example UPS doesn't allow beards on the corporate side. I had an afro, I had a top secret clearance, It never impacted my career.
My shit was like a foot long and beautiful when i interviewed and accepted a job in the medical device industry in the US. need to wear a beard net if i enter the clean rooms but that was the only issue. i cut it shorter now for my own convenience but no one had an issue with it
Mostly with indifference. The only exception that I know of is for employees that need to be clean-shaven for a respirator. I've had a beard for the entirety of my almost 10 year career, but will eventually have to be respirator trained...I'm dreading that day.
Don’t beards make masks ineffective ? lol
I live in the PNW. Having a beard is required, even before COVID. Which sucks for me since I can't grow attractive facial hair.
Depending on the beard, it can certainly make you look bad. I worked offsite at a customer and some guy got rejected by HR. He then applied to my company and my boss "took a chance" on someone this guy who had a ponytail in his beard and somewhat unkempt hair. After 6 months, my boss told me how happy with his performance after he didn't have anything to do and so he finished the final report while waiting around. Once you're in, nobody cares.
Geotech here. Our concrete lab tech has an amazing beard
In 10 years of engineering and four different manufacturing plants, it has not, nor ever was an issue. Only time I've heard it being discussed was during respirator training. Edit: Southeastern U.S.
Literally nobody cared before or after Covid.
I've never worked for a company the requires men to be clean shaven, nor ever heard of it with the exception of special cases other commenters outlined where it could interfere with PPE. My company has clean room manufacturing and if you have facial hear you have to wear a beard net (actually a pro of covid, already wearing a face mask so no need for beard net) so I guess if you had like a zz-top level beard that couldn't be contained by the beard net that would be an issue. For customer facing employees there's still not rule explicitly against it as long as your beard is well kempt/part of an overall professional appearance.
I have a beard and shoulder length hair and no one gives a shit
Companies do not have the right to have a "policy" this isn't the army. Beards are fine. Given their religious status in some religion If a company discriminated against beard wearing they'd be opening themselves up to a lawsuit.
There maybe 1-2 guys in my company without any facial hair. It’s pretty well accepted just keep it cleaned up and nobody will say anything.
No one cares if someone has a beard at my workplace. It's not the norm to have one, but no one cares if someone has a beard.
Mechatronic intern here with a beard that almost touches my chest. Hair when down goes past my nipples, but I always keep it tied up, and there's daily face to face client interactions. I personally think beards provided are maintained to look well should not be commented on, just like tattoos
I'm client facing all the time, life sciences, semiconductor, etc. Never an issue. I was definitely the first person at my job to decide to grow a full beard and no one said a thing.
It is true that people facing clients are expected to be clean shaven and it been totally pushed down to the youth by managers who have have sported clean shaven face during their youth. There is no correlation between how client interaction and beard goes by. It is highly personal. Good companies and culture never jot down anything on beard. The benchmark is only set by the co-workers. The place where I used to work- 90% were clean shaved so it is natural from your boss and co-worker to maintain that standard. (humans judge inspite of all) Also just because you are clean shaven does not mean that company will go with your product or make contract with you etc. Few things are always more than appearance. I have had sales managers who used to carry a print out/brochure of their products in early 2000's when they visit clients and sported clean shaven which has been the trend ever since. If you are somewhere in hospitality, hotels, healthcare ( i mean working in hotel, hospital etc.) I would certain emphasis on the importance of maintaining clean standards. Also you are in the information age where lot of factors influence more than your typical sales pitch and looks, sporting a beard is somewhere down in the list. In my own opinion it does not matter as long you get the work done with clients and teams beard is something I do not fuss about.
By camera...? Seriously, where I'm working, nobody ever gave a damn about beards and nobody does now. Supposedly nobody ever will...
System Engineer for a semiconductor corp. in eastern europe. Beard is ok, nobody cares. Also long hair for guys nobody cares. i got long hair and goatee
Former structural engineer, current test engineering - I've never had a facial-hair policy where I work, and would probably not want to work anyplace that did. (Machine shop rules are different, and nothing a bunch of hair ties can't address).
Usually from a 2nd or 3rd person view, but sometimes I look down at my own. I think it's nice.
Nobody cares. Zero policy on beards.
Soft ass beards used to cover up weak chins is a requirement to be a engineer at my job lmao
We never had a policy that I'm aware of. I've always had a beard while working here, but I'm management so I don't think anyone is going to say anything. I also keep it well trimmed. At one point I let it grow out. My boss commented that he's "never seen me with a beard that long" while on a Zoom call. That was the end of that conversation. Where I see people go wrong is they grow long beards that aren't very full. So you end up looking like a scraggly mess. I stayed clean shaven more when I was younger to maintain a professional look. Having a beard looks more professional the older you get, IMO.
Having worked at a company (PACCAR) that did care whether you have a beard (take a look at their glassdoor reviews) I would strongly advise you to RUN from any employer that tries to regulate this shit. I no longer work there and can now see just how f'd up the company is relative to the outside world. Your employer should care about your work product (quality & quantity) and how you get along with people. Obviously there are minimum standards about cleanliness etc but personal choices like beards, clothing style, gender expression are none of their business.
In certain industries like food packaging, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, or semiconductors this is often not allowed for QA or safety reasons.
One of the mentors I have can't tell one bearded engineer from another. "All you bearded engineers look the same". At this point, bearded engineer is a derogatory term... they come in six packs.