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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2017 Isah V. Red, Editor
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Young Life
Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor isahred@gmail.com.ph
By Daniel Reyes
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HEY say the way you look at the office translates to your performance, but in today’s workplace that is not the case anymore. Business attire has significantly changed over the past years. Decades ago, male employees typically wore longsleeve shirts and slacks at the office. Some companies today, however, are now allowing their personnel to dress casually—Friday or otherwise—to the extent that men can get away with wearing shorts to work. “There has been a shift in terms of office policies since most of the companies are young, if not, business owners are very adaptive to the emerging trend of wearing casual clothing to work,” opined Guam Partosa, a 25-year-old retail executive at a multinational fast fashion retail company. In Partosa’s workplace, there is no restrictions as long as their outfit is fashionforward because they have to introduce new trends to the market. “We are not only selling items, we are also educating customers how western trends can be adopted in the country,” he explained. Paolo Reyes, 26, a marketing associate at a retail company who wears shorts at work twice a week, said they are allowed to wear shorts and even slippers as long as those are the brands that they carry in their company. “In one of the multi-branded concept stores that I handle, we carry brands that cater to the youth. Thus, the way I wear my outfits are aligned with the lifestyle that we have in our store,” he shared. And wearing casual outfits happen to be the same for Keith Clemente (not his real name) who works at a start-up company. Clemente, a 20-year-old associate, said, “Our work attire policy is dress as decent and comfortable as you can. In fact, you can even go to work wearing slippers.” While some would think that shorts are too casual for work, there are ways to make them presentable. Partosa, who also handles the visual merchandising in one of their stores, said, “Having a ‘sophisticated casual’ look is one way to be presentable to your clients.” He explained that a “sophisticated casual” look can be achieved “through layering or by mixing classic apparel pieces with one’s go-to casual look.”
MILLENNIAL DRESS CODE:
MEN WEAR SHORTS TO WORK SHORTS STORY. Men wearing shorts to work
is now a thing, thanks (or no thanks?) to young male employees and start-up companies. (Photos from @davidguison and @iamgalle on Instagram)
Partosa, however, pointed out that it is still important for them to wear a more defined and professional outfit when they have meetings. “Whenever we are going to meet with our clients that is the time we wear trousers,” he said. Moreover, Reyes said that “the phenomenon of wearing shorts at work depends on the industry in which a person is working. But since there are several millennials starting up their companies, wearing shorts wouldn’t be as unusual as before— especially in the retail industry.” As for Clemente he believes that this can become a norm in the Philippines in the future as companies are becoming more flexible when it comes to office attire since several studies prove that comfort affects an employee’s productivity. Partosa argues, “We have to thank the millennials because what this generation is teaching us is to be practical; since we are living in a tropical country why would one force himself to wear something like a trouser pants made out of wool?”
AHLEI trainer Dr. Michael Terry with the executives of Seda Hotels, El Nido Resorts, and Hotel Benilde
RAISING THE BAR
IN PHILIPPINE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY THE American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute, through the Asia World Hospitality, organized two separate sessions on hospitality education and training as part of its commitment to modernize the hospitality and tourism industry in the Philippines. Recently at Seda Nuvali, AWH convened hotel general managers and hospitality executives from Seda Hotels, El Nido Resorts, and Hotel Benilde to conduct a review workshop and administer examinations on the Certified Hotel Administrator (CHA) professional credential. Seda BGC, on the other hand, played host for the recently concluded Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) workshop facilitated by Dr. Michael Terry, an AHLEI inter-
national trainer who is also a certified hotel administrator, educator, and food and beverage executive. The CHE workshop was designed for the faculty members of several universities in the Philippines, namely Our Lady of Fatima University, Far Eastern University, Academy of Pastry and Bakery Arts Philippines, Centro Escolar University, Nueva Vizcaya State University, Tarlac State University, Philippine Maritime School, PHINMA Education-Araullo University, and PHINMA Education-Southwestern University. For more information on upcoming workshop sessions, visit asiaworldhospitality. com, email info@asiaworldhospitality.com, or call (02) 556-7994 or 0917-5232128.
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