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Study: good looks doesn't equal higher profits

TT/The Local
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Study: good looks doesn't equal higher profits

Having attractive employees doesn’t necessarily add to a company’s bottom line, according to a new study from Karlstad University in central Sweden.

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Nevertheless, employers still place a lot of emphasis on the physical appearance of their staff.

Companies in the hotel and restaurant branch have among the highest demand for employees with good looks.

“More and more are well educated, and appearance and aesthetic competence then become more important,” said Henrietta Huzell, a professor in labour science at Karlstad University and one of the study’s co-authors.

But what companies care about most isn’t that staff are attractive, but that they are sound and healthy – which has to do with ideals of beauty.

“That demand shows in all industries and is connected with employers’ fears for increased costs stemming from sick leave,” said Huzell to the TT news agency.

On the other hand, companies which place high aesthetic demands on their employees aren’t more profitable than other companies, reports Svergies Radio.

The result comes from another study based on a survey about ideal appearances given to a few hundred companies around the country and then linked with profit figures from a business database.

The survey on employers’ views on appearance came from about 1,000 responses from companies in the hospitality, retail sales, and financial and insurance industries.

The results also show that employees who speak properly is more important for employers than outer beauty.

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