[ESSAY] The Look

Today, many fashion retail stores have begun hiring people on the basis of appearance rather than skill or experience. The fact that these stores prefer hiring attractive people with little or no job experience makes it difficult for those with working experience to get jobs. Although Marshal Cohen's comment about the retail market is essentially true, it is still morally wrong to deny someone of a job if they have an adequate skill set. Retailers should not rely on an attractive work force to gain the attention of consumers, because it causes customer service to be volatile. Since attractiveness is based on one's preference, hiring people because of their looks can cause discrimination problems against the company.

When a company hires employees, they usually look for someone with the right skills and prior work experience. Hiring by appearances can cause problems for the company if they do not know what they are doing. Even though they can train a new employee with no experience, it is still morally unjust to turn away a person with the right skill set and work experience for someone who simply looks better. Companies can "run into problems of race discrimination, national origin discrimination, gender discrimination, age discrimination, and even disability discrimination"(9) when they hire people for the sole purpose of their looks. In America, these types of discrimination are illegal, and can cause controversy between these companies and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The way that these types of companies hire workers are on the border of the anti-discrimination laws that have been set by  the government. Therefore, it is essentially wrong for companies to hire only attractive people.

Many times, when people walk into a store, they already know what they want to buy or what they are looking for. Personally, when I walk into a store, I either know what I want or I like the merchandise that the stores sell.
Not to say that this is the same for all people, but it stands to reason that it is mainly true. Therefore, because many people feel this way about retail stores, it is not necessary for stores to have to hire only attractive people to work the sales floor.

Inexperienced workers can sometimes affect the quality of customer service. Based on personal experience, I understand that during a rush, inexperienced workers can feel apprehensive about what to do in a situation like that. Many times, worker's training does not prepare one for the actual situation. For my first job, I felt cornered during peak hours; the store got so busy that I just did not know what to do. However, at one point in everyone's life, they all go through the phase of the inexperienced worker. But for high-end retail stores, they should be looking for employees that can deliver great customer service and the skills they were hired for all while maintaining a proper work ethic.

Marshal Cohen's comment about keeping up with the look of fashion retail stores is accurate in that people want to buy clothing that gives them "the look". However, it does not justify the moral problems with hiring people based on attractiveness. Furthermore, the human perception of attractiveness varies with every person. Which is why hiring employees should be weighted equally between experience, skills, work ethic, and very lastly, appearance. That is not to say that companies have the right to hire on the basis of appearance, but if the company has two applicants for a single job, then, as an exception, it may stand to reason that appearance can be a deciding factor.