Love for ink gets in way of career

/Home/Tattoos and the Workplace

Love for ink gets in way of career
July 12, 2010
BY PETER PANEPINTO
citizensvoice.com

Tiffany Skasko has a red koi fish swimming on the side of her waist and a Transformers Decepticon symbol on the back of her leg. No one at Wayne Memorial Hospital, where the 32-year-old works as a registered nurse, sees the 15-inch koi tattoo, which is covered by her uniform. As for her leg art, no one mentions that tattoo, she says.

Now Skasko is contemplating another tattoo, a half-sleeve that would stretch from her elbow to wrist with colorful flowers, but she worries it will stick out of her clothes and ruin her chances at a job she hopes for in the future.

"I want to get a half-sleeve so bad and I can't," Skasko said. "I definitely can't get one because I'm looking to get a management position."

While tattoos are widely accepted by the public on professional athletes and musicians, tattoo art covering exposed body parts has not been as well received in society, especially in the business world.

Jim McGuire, spokesman for the Wyoming Valley Health Care System, said the hospital doesn't have a specific policy on tattoos but the company prefers employees keep them covered.

"We always encourage our employees to present a professional business-like image while on duty and representing the organization," McGuire said. "Our employees know what we expect."

McGuire said covering tattoos is just "good customer service."

The public is divided on the rise of the tattoo trend during the past decade, according to a December poll conducted by the Pew Research Center.

The poll found that 40 percent of people disapprove the tattoo trend, while 45 percent said it hasn't made a difference and 7 percent said the increased number of people with tattoos has been a change for the better.

Age may be a factor in the way tattoos are perceived. Many of the people who disapprove the trend were older than 50, 64 percent were ages 65 and older and 51 percent were ages 50 to 64.

Local tattoo artist Shannon Cragoe said the tattoo industry went from a subculture to a mainstream phenomenon.

Cragoe, owner of Dragon's Den Tattoo studio in Edwardsville credits TV shows like "Miami Ink" and "LA Ink" for increasing the popularity of tattoos.

"It's everybody anymore," Cragoe said. "I have probably as many clients over 50 as under 20."

Cragoe's customers range from doctors and lawyers to construction workers and insurance agents.

Cragoe said he's been tattooing a local attorney for the past 15 years. At first the lawyer would get tattoos in hard-to-spot places, but now Cragoe says his body art is more visible.

"His tattoos are no longer a hidden thing," Cragoe said. "They all used to be under the collar and under the suit but not so much anymore."

He started in the tattoo business 17 years ago in New York and New Jersey. In 2002, he opened a tattoo shop in Wilkes-Barre. Cragoe said the tattoo industry was an untapped market in Wilkes-Barre at the time and he's surprised at its success. Cragoe said he's now tattooing everyone, from high school students to senior citizens.

CareerLink Luzerne County Administrator Bill Dunn said the agency doesn't have a policy preventing employees from sporting tattoos. In CareerLink, he said tattoos haven't been much of an issue.

"It all comes down to the nature of the job and the business," Dunn said. "If folks can cover them up while they're working, it's not an issue."

It may be a consideration in hiring some employees, Dunn said. The location of a tattoo may also play a part in hiring decisions, he added.

A person operating a forklift may have more freedom with tattoos than a secretary working at a front desk, he said.

There aren't any policies prohibiting tattoos at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center but an employee will be asked to cover inappropriate body art, said Margaret Heffers, associate vice president of human resources at Geisinger Wyoming Valley.

"Inappropriate words are an example of a tattoo that would need to be covered," Heffers said. "The hospital has never received complaints from patients regarding tattoos."

But Tonya Shovlin, 33, of Nanticoke, thinks anybody should be able to have tattoos - even if they are working the most prestigious jobs.

She works as a nursing aide and has received several complaints from residents in the Birchwood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Nanticoke because of the butterfly tattoo on the back of her neck. And she said the tattooed fairies coming from her wrist to her elbow have also created controversy in the nursing home.

"Some people get a kick out of me and some don't," Shovlin said. "Either you like it or you hate it."

In addition to Shovlin's butterfly and half-sleeve tattoos, she has a moon flower on her ankle and three other tattoos. She said people often mistake her as a "biker babe."

Though tattoos may be becoming more acceptable, Nick Necro, co-owner of Four Aces Tattoos Inc. in Wilkes-Barre, wouldn't recommend getting a tattoo on the face, neck or hands.

"Facial and neck tattoos will be taboo for quite some time," Necro said. "People are going to give you some sort of repercussion, and as tattoo artists, we try to talk people out of getting facial tattoos."

Shovlin said she sees no shame in getting a tattoo anywhere on her body.

"It's art," Shovlin said. "You're just showing it off every day instead of it being on your wall."