Story at a glance
- A new poll from Gallup shows 72 percent of employees in the United States wear either business casual or street clothes to work.
- The poll also found that a small majority — 51 percent — of women are more likely to wear business casual clothes to work.
- Men, however, are more divided on what they choose to wear, according to Gallup.
Workers in the United States are now more likely to dress casually while on the job, according to a recent survey from Gallup.
The survey found that more than 70 percent of American workers said their typical uniform consists of business casual or more dressed-down street clothes. Roughly 26 percent said they either still wear a uniform or business professional clothing.
Women are particularly likely to wear more casual work attire, according to the survey. A slight majority, 51 percent, said they wore business casual clothing to work. Gallup defined this type of clothes as blouses, dress pants, skirts or jeans. About 30 percent said they wore casual jeans, T-shirts or leggings to their jobs every day.
Only 17 percent of women said they wore a uniform or professional clothing to the office.
Men, on the other hand, were equally likely to wear business casual, street clothes or a uniform, according to the poll. Only 3 percent said they wore a suit daily.
Gallup researchers said “workplace attire is significantly more casual today” than when the same question was asked in October 2019, ahead of the lockdowns and spike in remote work caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent survey found that the share of workers who wear business casual clothing has increased 7 percent and the share who wear a uniform or business professional clothes to the office has deceased 4 percent compared to 2019.
The percentage of workers who wear street clothes to work was mostly unchanged from 2019.
The full impact COVID lockdowns have had on workplace attire is unclear, but Gallup said the shifts in work attire could largely be attributed to habits developed during the pandemic, including telecommuting.
Workers that telecommuted for their job were more than twice as likely, at around 58 percent, to wear business casual clothing, the poll found. Only 24 percent of those who have not worked remotely reported wearing less professional attire to the office.
Those who worked remotely, however, were less likely than non-remote workers to wear street clothing — at 25 percent and 37 percent, respectively.
Non-remote workers are also more likely to wear a uniform (at 35 percent) than those who have worked from home (at 11 percent), according to Gallup.
The poll was conducted from Aug. 1-23, and based on responses from U.S. adults who were not self-employed.
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