Employers advertise with tattoos: Skills shortage is changing taboo

uAmong all possible tattoo motifs, an image of new love on the skin is a classic and at the same time, as is well known, particularly delicate. It is said that a tattoo lasts longer than a relationship. The tattoos discussed here could also outlast a relationship. That to the employer.

The hotel chain Ruby is looking for employees. What company isn’t looking right now? Job advertisements are stuck to doors, shop windows and vans. There are large posters with half-witted, ambiguous slogans on arterial roads. And these days there are also posters hanging at the entrances of the Ruby hotels in major German cities and in other European countries with an appeal that goes one step further: “Ready for a new tattoo?” Then in the small print: “You want a new tattoo? How about on top with a new, exciting job?” You could also read the job advertisement like this: Just try the job. There’s definitely a tattoo for it. Or at least a subsidy of up to 500 euros, which can be invested in a piercing, a new hairstyle or a tattoo.

A new incentive system

Incentives for employees existed in almost all areas of working life even before the officially confirmed shortage of workers. Free yoga classes and Zalando vouchers for employees, so that they remain loyal to their employer. Or free canteen food for a month to encourage employees to return to the stationary office.

The tattoo for the job, which is said to have caused 25 percent more applications in the Ruby Hotels in the first month, is exciting for another reason. After all, a tattoo was a criterion for a job in many areas Not to get. Not too long ago it was said: If you intend to switch to public service, you should rather leave tattoos alone. In view of the recently reported 360,000 vacancies there, too, a visible tattoo could soon no longer be a problem in the application process. At least in the hotel industry, as the campaign by the Ruby chain indicates, it has arrived.