What is completely permanent, a job landing preventer and a social taboo? Bikers, convicts and marines all have them, rebels and rejects want them, and the sight of them on a teenager’s skin sends parents in a fit of rage. 

They are tattoos, but the description above is outdated. Tattoos have evolved into their new term of endearment — “body art” — and are slowly making their way to acceptance in the workplace.

It’s interesting to think about it broken down into simple terms because it’s not the tattoos that are causing the problem; it’s the stigma that comes with them. A tattoo is — in literal terms — defined as a “mark with an indelible design by inserting pigment into punctures in the skin.” 

Personally, I can’t think of an instance when a drawing on someone’s body affected his or her work productivity, personality or anything about them for that matter. If we took a CEO and drew a half sleeve with sharpie on his or her arm, would it affect the way that he or she works? I can’t be completely sure, but I’m going to guess that the answer is no.

When I was going to get my first tattoo, the thoughts “Will this affect my job acquirement?” did go through my head, and I was worried about it for a while. Though I was not getting anything crazy, just three words on my wrist, I was still uneasy about how it would affect the rest of my life in the work aspect. But, when I did some research, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many companies did not have a tattoo policy.

Bank of America is one of the most popular corporations that is tattoo friendly, and it has no policy and has expressed its disagreement regarding discrimination. Popular retail stores such as Best Buy, Gap, Target and Walmart are also among those employers that don’t see a problem with ink in the workplace.  Multiple technical jobs also allow for tattoos such as Microsoft, Verizon and Apple. 

Though it can be said that tattoos are slowly making their way into the workplace because they are becoming more acceptable, it could also be said that the employers have no choice. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 45 million Americans have at least one tattoo — discriminating against such a workforce is impossible. So, if a company has strict policies on tattoos, it could be missing out on 45 million perfect candidates because of a simple “drawing” on their bodies.

The number of “inked” citizens in the United States is not only high but is also on the rise. According to a 2010 Pew Research Center study, only 15 percent of baby boomers have tattoos, while 32 percent of Generation X and 38 percent of millennials have body art. Half of those tattooed millennials say they have two to five tattoos. With the way in which our society is going, that number may only increase as time goes on. Soon, tattoos will become completely mainstream, and a new alteration of the body will take its place.

I’m not saying that everyone in corporate offices is going to start looking like the famous tattoo artist Kat Von D in a few years, but I’d like to believe our society is progressing toward judging job candidates solely by the ink on their resumes and not the ink on their skin.