Being hot is now a job requirement

"While talking about looks in the corporate world remains taboo, years of research show attractive people tend to gain more trust than their plainer-looking counterparts, and that pretty and thin people tend to land jobs and advance up the career ladder to earn more money than others. Now, thanks to filters, Facetune, modern shapewear, high-end gyms, and a revolution in skincare products, corporate workers can be their own glam teams."

"Even as she thinks critically about beauty standards imposed on women, Reynolds worries what would happen to her business and professional reputation if she abandoned her rituals and routines - and what's going to happen as she continues to age. "How long will I be quote-unquote publicly perceived as attractive?" Reynolds says. "And when I'm not, what happens to me professionally? That's the thing I think about daily.""

"And because conventional beauty has never been more accessible, the expectation that the average worker attains it has perhaps never been higher. These beauty secret regimens aren't secrets - no longer treatments just for those with pretty people jobs like modeling and acting, but touted by regular people with 9 to 5s all over TikTok, where office workers sit before the camera and show themselves doing multi-step skincare routines."

Emily Reynolds runs a PR company and intentionally cultivates a younger appearance through Botox, filler, laser facials, hydrofacials, expensive skincare, Peloton workouts, and Barry's Bootcamp–style training. She balances looking mature enough to signal experience and leadership with staying young enough to remain relevant. Attractive people gain more trust and tend to obtain jobs, promotions, and higher pay. Filters, Facetune, shapewear, high-end gyms, skincare revolutions, and GLP-1 weight-loss drugs make conventional beauty more accessible. Social media platforms like TikTok normalize multi-step regimens among regular office workers. Rising accessibility raises expectations for workers to achieve and maintain conventional attractiveness for professional advantage.

Read at Business Insider