News

Figures Reveal Executives Are Focusing On Beauty And Height To Keep Jobs In Recession

21/01/2010

By Lea Pachta

Sales of plus size outfits and height increasing footwear rocket 3.6%

Businessmen and women are turning to specialist "plus size" retailers in a bid to compete with their taller and more beautiful colleagues during the recession. Figures released last week by N Brown Group plc, which owns the High & Mighty, Jacamo and Simply Be outlets which cater for large women and short men, reveal sales rose 3.6 percent in the 19 weeks to January 9. According to N Brown, "sales have been particularly encouraging in the footwear and menswear product ranges".

While the UK suffers its worst recession since the Great Depression and unemployment continues to rise, more and more executives are going that extra mile to make themselves more competitive in the workplace. Successive studies have shown that physically attractive women and taller men not only earn more, but rise to more senior leadership positions.

Research suggests that for men height has an extremely important role in workplace success. Statistics indicate that someone who is 6 feet tall earns, on average, £101,000 more during a 30-year career than someone who is 5 feet 5 inches - even when controlling for gender, age and weight. Height even affects leadership success: in his 2005 bestselling book 'Blink', Malcolm Gladwell reveals that in roughly half of the Fortune 500 Companies, 58% of CEO's were over 6 feet tall. This is an over-representation of 400% when compared with American men in the population who are over 6 feet tall.

Women fare no better. Unattractive women earn 5% less than more attractive women and the effect on unattractive women's entry into the workforce is thought to be so profound that many opt out altogether so are not even counted. According to statistics, the most unattractive married women (the ones who are rated... continued on page two >

1 2 »

Rate

Bookmark