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HP R&D Starts Enforcing a Business Casual Dress Code

An anonymous reader writes: HP was once known as a research and technology giant, a company founded in a garage by a pair of engineers and dominated by researchers. Whilst a part of that lives on in Agilent any hope for the rest of the company has now died with the announcement that HP R&D will have to dress in business "smart casual" with T-shirts, baseball caps, short skirts, low cut dresses and sportswear all being banned.

480 comments

  1. um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Seriously, who gives a shit.

    1. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, this shirt:
      I don't care if you landed a spacecraft on a comet your shirt is sexist and ostracizing
      generated a shitstorm on the internet. So possibly HP management is feeling a bit gunshy. Nothing like nasty, screaming little facists trying to ruin your career over the irrelevant to ruin your day. Or week. Or month. Or even your career.

    2. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

      Fascists go around killing people they disagree with - they didn't just exercise rambling freedom of speech on the Internet.

      And this guy's day might have been spoiled, but his week/month/career are fine. He's still one of the most employable people on the planet with a brilliant career behind and ahead of him, should he choose it.

      I didn't even see much of a problem with the shirt, but I found the kneejerk reaction from BOTH sides a disappointing indictment on human reasoning ability, or rather a sound demonstration of the desire for anyone in the sidelines to jump on a bandwagon to further their politics. In fact, his reaction was way more humble than that of any commentators: he said he didn't want to hurt anyone, because he seems like a nice chap, and then he carried on with his job.

    3. Re:um...yay? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Informative

      Actually that shirt was designed by a woman as a nostalgic cultural reference.
      https://www.alohaland.com/pinu...

      Academic feminist battleaxes, please keep your microaggressions on campus, where they won't disturb anyone in the real world.

    4. Re:um...yay? by Z00L00K · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well - if you start to push dress code at a work place it's a sure sign of that work place going down. There are more important issues to take care of for HP. And IBM also have serious problems.

      At least as long as you dress reasonably well I don't see a problem.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    5. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's funny that this seems to come up on Slashdot so often. I was actually at the AAS Division of Planetary Sciences meeting when that interview happened. This isn't "nasty little fascists trying to ruin your career"; there was a resounding *facepalm* with regards to the shirt, as we are well aware that the sciences can be hostile to women (it will be nice when tech comes to that realization as well). It never stopped us from appreciating was the Matt Taylor and the Philae team accomplished from an engineering and science standpoint, though. Matt was an idiot for wearing the shirt, but his scientific work is still great.

    6. Re:um...yay? by Crashmarik · · Score: 4, Insightful

      IBM actually did very well with their dress code. It was a sales ploy, the company wanted to project an aura of reliable professionalism and they did.

    7. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And this guy's day might have been spoiled, but his week/month/career are fine.

      Nobel Prize winner Sir Tim Hunt didn't even wear the wrong shirt, he merely told a joke and he got fired. Time will tell about Dr. Taylor's career. I don't think it will say good things.

    8. Re: um...yay? by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I can understand a reasonable dress code to keep flip flops and non work attire to a minimum.

      However, dressing like a professional doth not a professional make. HP would do well to remember that.

    9. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, he identifies with being a girl-watcher. I see no problem.
      Hell, if it's good enough for Bruce, the average Joe should be
      able to stake the same arguemnent.

      CAP === 'enriched'

    10. Re:um...yay? by Darinbob · · Score: 3, Funny

      Who gives a shirt?

    11. Re:um...yay? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Who fired a Nobel Prize laureate over a joke and why does he still have a job? Whoever fired him should be fired for damaging the company.

      Seriously, Political Correctness is fine and cute, but when it gets to getting shit done, it's time to stop the silly games and concentrate on what really matters.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    12. Re:um...yay? by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Informative

      I cannot trust a tech who dresses up like a fucking Ken doll.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    13. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you'd truly let your biases cloud your judgement when it comes to technology? With that admission, I wouldn't trust your judgement on much of anything.

    14. Re:um...yay? by gweihir · · Score: 3, Interesting

      With regard to IBM, having met one of their highly-paid technical consulting teams, I know what their problem is: Incompetence coupled with arrogance and no social graces. They also failed to solve their task for 3 years, when something similar took me a year to get to run reliably. Them being IBM, they actually got paid more for failing repeatedly, so at the moment the incompetence still works out for them, but eventually the customers will not be willing to pay a fortune for trash.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    15. Re:um...yay? by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 1

      "Reasonably well" is difficult to qualify in an HR Memo

    16. Re:um...yay? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      There was nothing micro about that aggression.

    17. Re: um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Not OP but I agree with him. Falls under the category of mechanic with clean, manicured hands.

    18. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually that shirt was designed by a woman as a nostalgic cultural reference.
      https://www.alohaland.com/pinu...

      Academic feminist battleaxes, please keep your microaggressions on campus, where they won't disturb anyone in the real world.

      Better link:
      http://ellyprizemanupdate.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/decisions-and-comments.html
      Cheers.

    19. Re:um...yay? by sjames · · Score: 1

      This. When the dress code gets strict and the SciFi posters and paraphernalia come down, the company is sinking. When I see that happen at a vendor's place of business, I start looking for a new vendor.

    20. Re: um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except for the fact be was exercising freedom. And when someone's self manifested moral high ground interfears with our personal freedoms that's where facism stops being theory and crosses into reality. No one should be allowed to influence another's choice of clothing, sexual preferences or personal pursuits. But in this case we let it happen because we allow constriction of freedoms when they inconvenience an agenda.

    21. Re: um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I can look at every move you make as idiocy when I create artificial outrage like implied sexism, racism and aggression when it did not exist. That what happened in this case and juging anyone by what they wear is a sign of low appreciation of freedom and especially of respect for personal choice. Was judging Turing for his at the time 'poor choice' fair? That's what happened here, we failed to grant him his personal preference which impacted no one negatively

    22. Re:um...yay? by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      HP has been on that slow train to MBA city for years now. I doubt there's anyone left that would object to a dress code, they've all moved on to successful technology companies instead.

    23. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It was a ceremonial "job" giving speeches, and he was giving shitty speeches that attracted negative attention and the audience didn't like. Why not get mad at the lab that accepted his retirement?

    24. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who fired a Nobel Prize laureate over a joke

      Somebody from the University College London. They did not even wait to talk to him about it. They got complaints via social media and that overruled a lifetime of award-winning biochemistry work.

      It appears if there was a cure for cancer today, but it was in any way interpretable as sexist it would be banned and the discoverers would be socially ostracized.

    25. Re:um...yay? by TWX · · Score: 2

      Good luck firing the human resources department.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    26. Re:um...yay? by TWX · · Score: 2

      Who gives a shirt?

      Booth babes at trade shows?

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    27. Re: um...yay? by TWX · · Score: 2

      Except that a mechanic works with his hands, so barring the use of gloves it makes sense why his hands would possibly be dirty or calloused or scarred.

      Most technical work doesn't create a visual means to tell that someone works in the field. Sure, there are self-imposed stereotypes like long hair and clothing with nerdy subject matter printed on, but I've seen people with strong technical abilities that were also fitness freaks and wore fitness clothing (and I don't mean sweatpants), I've seen ubertechs wearing sports-memorabilia clothes like commemorative football jerseys, others wearing hunting/outdoorsy stuff, others that were goth or punk, etc. There literally is no visual means to tell.

      I have seen workplaces degenerate away from professionalism, and a form of dress-code or uniform helped correct that. Almost everyone was pissed when they did it, but people also stopped screwing around during the workday too, so in the end it did help solve some of the problems, more than it created.

      --
      Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    28. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The fact that it's a shirt of women, by a woman, shouldn't matter. The fact is, the shirt isn't offensive, full stop. Obviously, anyone can be offended by any thing, but anyone offended by that shirt can fuck right off.

    29. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Smart casual a Ken Doll does not make.

      Its ridiculous that it was even considered appropriate to wear "T-shirts, baseball caps, short skirts, low cut dresses and sportswear" into a work place that is not either a retail store, a bar, or some sort of sporting venue. Smart casual doesn't make people wear suits all day, but it also means they don't rock up in tracksuits or mini shorts.

    30. Re: um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She's a whore

    31. Re:um...yay? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2

      Seriously, Political Correctness is fine and cute, but when it gets to getting shit done, it's time to stop the silly games and concentrate on what really matters.

      PC always had a "you're screwed if you don't toe the line" attitude.

      It was never fine and cute. It has always been about social control.

    32. Re: um...yay? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 2

      However, dressing like a professional doth not a professional make. HP would do well to remember that.

      I worked for a software house around 2000. They said they expected "professional" attire, including collared shirts (men & women) and knee-length skirts or dockers and better for pants. No jeans.

      Now, that might actually seem reasonable... except for the fact that I sat in a cubical doing my programming and seldom even saw my co-workers, much less anyone else. So who the hell was I supposed to impress? My boss? There were only 5 programmers in the whole place, each to our own space. I seldom even glanced at my boss other than once a week meeting.

      Very occasionally a customer came to the office. And I saw one, only once. And I had advance notice.

      So when I was alone there in my cubicle, why the hell did anybody care if I even wore anything from the waist down? Or up, for that matter? Since the dividers were 6' high?

      Someone give me an answer that is based on reason, rather than tradition. If you can find one.

    33. Re: um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone give me an answer that is based on reason, rather than tradition. If you can find one.

      Sure. HR got tired of the complaints from the customer-facing employees for whom wearing business atire was important about why they couldn't wear jeans and a tee-shirt, just like the geeks in IT.

      And, just because you haven't run into a VIP so far doesn't mean it won't happen, and even if it never happens to you doesn't mean it won't happen to others in your position. What you're really asking for is a personalized, self-determined dress code, and I've seen so many examples of that not working in practice that I fully understand the desire for a "uniform" (pun intended) dress code.

      This reminds me of the time our receptionist (a young, very attractive woman), wore a dress to work that consisted of two pieces of material (front and back) held together with brass rings, leaving it clear that there was nothing under the dress but the receptionist. Between the women in the office complaining, and the men repeatedly going to get office supplies so they could take another look, productivity plunged. And, as much as I appreciated the "show", it is clear that she should not have been wearing such an outfit to work.

    34. Re: um...yay? by Ramze · · Score: 2

      Psychology -- the theory being that putting on work clothes puts you into a different frame of mind which is conducive towards work.

      Frankly, I think it's BS, but that's the real answer. The HR droids believe (and lots of psychological experiments show) that when people put on certain clothes - especially uniforms - they tend to change their behaviors and thought processes. People who wear their pajamas all day tend to be calmer and lazier. Those who wear suits and ties tend to be more active. Women especially change their emotional states and attitudes in response to what they're wearing.

      The reason I call BS is because regardless of whatever lab experiments show, no one knows how specific individuals will respond to such changes - especially in a place where the work is a CREATIVE work. I would think creative minds should be allowed to wear whatever clothing makes them most comfortable so that their minds are free to relax and imagine creative solutions.

      Having worked at a business casual call center with casual day Fridays (and even casual weeks at times), I can say that the jeans actually improved the workplace. We were on phones all day talking to irate customers. Anything that helped us relax was helpful to everyone.

      I hate business attire. I'd wear t-shirts, jean shorts, and sandals every day of my life if I could... heck, maybe gym shorts if they didn't look horrendous.

      Companies that don't have customer-facing personal contact should drop the BS. Clothing rules should reflect workplace safety and avoid offensive content -- and maybe also reduce distractions for other workers.... but, I say some distractions at work are healthy.

    35. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How is a t-shirt and a baseball cap a tracksuit or mini shorts? If you want to ban something like tracksuits and mini shorts, then ban the tracksuits and minishorts. It does not mean you have to ban everything else between them and a suit.

    36. Re: um...yay? by war4peace · · Score: 2

      I tried. Wore suits for about 6 months. They felt uncomfortable. I was always wary of spilling a drop of juice or rubbing onto something dusty, my shirt wrists got dirty as shit by mid-day, I felt ridiculous overall (because I have long hair and long beard).
      And yes it affected my productivity. Negatively, and very much so.

      When I got back into jeans and $5 T-Shirts, man, it was heaven!

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    37. Re: um...yay? by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

      Most technical work doesn't create a visual means to tell that someone works in the field.

      COBOL programming being a notable exception.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    38. Re:um...yay? by ultranova · · Score: 0

      Who fired a Nobel Prize laureate over a joke and why does he still have a job? Whoever fired him should be fired for damaging the company.

      Humans, even Nobel Prize laureates, are mortal and will eventually leave, taking their talent with them. On the other hand, their influence will remain in the corporate culture, potentially forever. Apart from being less efficient overall - people are less likely to voice their good ideas or call out bad ones if they need to worry about being the next target - based on current trends it seems likely that it will also repulse future talent (and even current talent) as the world continues growing more inclusive. So cutting their losses seems like the rational thing to do.

      Even special snowflakes are still just snowflakes.

      Seriously, Political Correctness is fine and cute, but when it gets to getting shit done, it's time to stop the silly games and concentrate on what really matters.

      So stop playing them. Stop wearing sexists shirts, stop telling racist jokes. Stop insisting other people endure you shoveling crap on them. But if you can't resist playing a power game, don't complain when other people - including your employer - refuse to let themselves be victimized.

      Political Correctness is about focusing on the job, it's opponents are about forcing other people to eat their shit and pretend to like it. Stop being a gaping asshole and the whole issue won't have any effect on you, apart from making your environment less smelly.

      Of course it hurts to give up a part of yourself, even if that part is composed of the leftover garbage from civilization's startup process. But the alternatives hurt even more. Sucks, but the prize is beating the odds and taking the stars.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    39. Re: um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uhm...the speech in question was filmed and the audience you claimed didn't like his joke? Then why did they all laugh at it? It was a harmless joke taken out of context. In fact the split the joke in half. It wasn't until 2 weeks ago that the entire tape was released and we got to hear the entire joke and statement. It's unbelievable to think anyone got offended by it.

      These people are outrage culture addicts. Nothing they say has any merit. Open your damn eyes and ears.

    40. Re:um...yay? by ultranova · · Score: 0

      PC always had a "you're screwed if you don't toe the line" attitude.

      It was never fine and cute. It has always been about social control.

      So how is that different from every other aspect of employment? Do you obey your boss because they're a great person or because you'll be fired if you won't? Political Correctness is simply insisting you leave your Klan robe at the door, which is a perfectly reasonable demand.

      But hey, all we have to do to make the issue go away is make employment optional, for example through unconditional basic income. If you no longer need to work for a living you can wear the Southern Flag as a toga all day long, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. But of course it also means other people are beyond your ability to control and "keep in their place", too.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    41. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was nothing micro about that aggression.

      Yes, it was... an actual macroaggression is when I punch your sorry white knight self in the face.

    42. Re: um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So COBOL programs go on to become carnie folks!?

      Who knew!?!?

    43. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are very legitimate business men that wear track suits.

    44. Re: um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Universities are so over.

    45. Re:um...yay? by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      When I worked at a video game company, the first signs that things were going bad was when management stopped handing out free T-shirts to the testers. And then they started charging a quarter for the sodas.

    46. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh? Jokes are all about getting shit done and aren't silly games? Do you even listen to yourself?

    47. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, you poor babies - you make the "real world" work so well, and everyone tells you you're so mean all the time.
      What a bunch of entitled little self-important shitheels. Really. One white guy to another? Get over yourselves.

    48. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For sales personnel dealing with the public, that makes sense.
      In a lab full of talented people, making them deal with such bullshit is pointless and counterproductive.

    49. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > PC always had a "you're screwed if you don't toe the line" attitude.

      Actually it's:

      PC always had a "you're screwed if you don't toe my line" attitude.

    50. Re: um...yay? by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 1

      Well, that IS a reasonable answer. I'm not sure I buy it either... frankly, the dress code made me resentful since it had no real purpose.

    51. Re:um...yay? by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      Seriously, Political Correctness is fine and cute, but when it gets to getting shit done, it's time to stop the silly games and concentrate on what really matters.

      PC always had a "you're screwed if you don't toe the line" attitude. It was never fine and cute. It has always been about social control.

      You guys are aware we're talking about business dress codes, right? "T-shirts, baseball caps, short skirts, low cut dresses and sportswear all being banned."

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    52. Re:um...yay? by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      Well - if you start to push dress code at a work place it's a sure sign of that work place going down. There are more important issues to take care of for HP. And IBM also have serious problems.

      At least as long as you dress reasonably well I don't see a problem.

      dress code:
      1) if you're working with something hot that spatters like a welder or a frying pan, you need to wear clothes.
      2) that's all i got

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    53. Re: um...yay? by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      Psychology -- the theory being that putting on work clothes puts you into a different frame of mind which is conducive towards work.

      Frankly, I think it's BS, but that's the real answer. The HR droids believe (and lots of psychological experiments show) that when people put on certain clothes - especially uniforms - they tend to change their behaviors and thought processes. People who wear their pajamas all day tend to be calmer and lazier. Those who wear suits and ties tend to be more active. Women especially change their emotional states and attitudes in response to what they're wearing.

      The reason I call BS is because regardless of whatever lab experiments show, no one knows how specific individuals will respond to such changes - especially in a place where the work is a CREATIVE work. I would think creative minds should be allowed to wear whatever clothing makes them most comfortable so that their minds are free to relax and imagine creative solutions.

      Having worked at a business casual call center with casual day Fridays (and even casual weeks at times), I can say that the jeans actually improved the workplace. We were on phones all day talking to irate customers. Anything that helped us relax was helpful to everyone.

      I hate business attire. I'd wear t-shirts, jean shorts, and sandals every day of my life if I could... heck, maybe gym shorts if they didn't look horrendous.

      Companies that don't have customer-facing personal contact should drop the BS. Clothing rules should reflect workplace safety and avoid offensive content -- and maybe also reduce distractions for other workers.... but, I say some distractions at work are healthy.

      office workers need to wear suits, because they are impotent and should dress important.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    54. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IBM has been around a long time; back in the day it was pretty common to wear a shirt and tie to work, and IBM being IBM held on to that convention long past when other companies dropped it. As far as I know IBM of today is like most companies, unenforced business casual for most staff except for some positions like client facing sales.

    55. Re:um...yay? by DeVilla · · Score: 1

      Having done a google image search on that, neither can I.

    56. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nothing like nasty, screaming little facists trying to ruin your career over the irrelevant to ruin your day. Or week. Or month. Or even your career.

      Part of being a competent worker is taking three seconds to think about how other people are affected by your actions and presentation. In the case of the Philae engineer, he's allowed to wear whatever the heck he wants on his own time, but when he's acting as a media representative for an organization that wants to encourage women's progress in STEM fields, he shouldn't wear a shirt that objectifies women. It's not irrelevant, and the people who objected to it were raising a very reasonable point. No one leaves STEM over one shirt, but they do leave STEM over mentorship requests that never get answered, and professors who talk at your chest instead of you, and colleagues who are continually surprised that you are competent in your field, and yes, dozens of shirts, desktop backgrounds, calendars, and gene names that all remind you that some of your colleagues - not all, but enough - think of you as slightly more of a body and slightly less of a brain.

    57. Re: um...yay? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      I thought they had normal length fingers, but a non-standard number?

      Or perhaps I'm getting them confused with West Virginians.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    58. Re:um...yay? by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      Seriously, who gives a shit.

      I do. Sure, I'm not going to work there anyway, but I think being able to wear a T shirt and shorts is a HUGE perk.

      Sure, pay me enough and I guess I would submit to a dress code.. But in the theoretical everything else being equal situation, I'd definitely pick the no dress code place.

    59. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually that shirt was designed by a woman

      Probably ironed by one too.

    60. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      bye bye HP

    61. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Academic feminist battleaxes, please just STFU

      fixed

    62. Re:um...yay? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Said dress code is likely to get ignored here. (Harry Potter land, location redacted)

  2. So what? by demonlapin · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Who cares? Are that many geeks worn down by the brutal requirement to wear something slightly more formal than gym clothes?

    1. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes.

      Seriously, the dress code at work is the number one thing I hate about my job right now. I don't feel comfortable in business casual. Plus, when you consider that HP folks already get little vacation time unless they've been there for 20 years. I got past the first round for the HP consulting division and bowed out after I saw the vacation time.

    2. Re:So what? by whoever57 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Decades ago, at Texas Instruments in Dallas, one of my colleagues was almost fired for wearing shorts in the middle of summer on a Saturday. After that incident, the dress code was changed to allow more casual dress outside normal working hours.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    3. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You seriously have to spend more on your suits. Bespoke tailoring exists for a reason, or just spend three time what you comfortable spending and see if you change your mind (about suits) or the people above you in the pecking order change theirs (about you).

      Worst case, your have a nice suit to where to unkle georges funeral.

    4. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's right, good goy, spend your hard earned money one fancy suits and ties.

    5. Re:So what? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Who cares?

      I care. A dress code sends a message about a company's culture. The stricter the code, the more that company cares about having a professional appearance, and less about professional performance.

    6. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What purpose does dressing uncomfortably serve?

      The MBA morons that judge based on clothes and not substance of ideas are what needs to go.

    7. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And this is what Logic 101 would call a non sequitur.

      the more that company cares about having a professional appearance,

      Yes.

      and less about professional performance.

      No.

      They are not mutually exclusive.

      The institution I've been with the strictest dress code was the private school I went to - it also had near top national academic performance. The principle was not that people were required to waste time worrying about what they wore, but that people didn't worry about what they wore, as everyone was wearing the same thing: a well-fitting, comfortable, smart uniform.

    8. Re:So what? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Interesting

      On my first two commercial jobs (an aerospace giant, then IT in a California retail chain) it was still suits, ties and white shirts for all.
      What did the women wear, you ask? What women?

    9. Re:So what? by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Who thinks of business casual as being uncomfortable? In most lines of business, it's the standard informal default. Be glad you're not in law or finance.

    10. Re: So what? by loufoque · · Score: 5, Informative

      Business casual doesn't even require suits. A shirt or even a polo shirt is fine.
      All it requires is basically that you don't look like a hobo.

    11. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it weren't for business casual I wouldn't own a single damn polo shirt or any khaki pants. I especially hate the pants, the slightest bit of dirt that gets on them can't simply be brushed off like you can with denim so you look like a slob all day just because you accidentally brushed against a slightly dirty car on your way into the building. It's one of the things I miss about being a field engineer, having the freedom to dress as I would on any day off.

      It's telling that when they started allowing us to wear jeans every day at the office rather than on special occasions it took off like wildfire. Those still wearing slacks are a minority now and pretty much mostly made up of the executives.

    12. Re:So what? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

      I care. A dress code sends a message about a company's culture. The stricter the code, the more that company cares about having a professional appearance, and less about professional performance.

      Is that why these guys were never able to land people on the moon?

      https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a...

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    13. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who thinks of business casual as being uncomfortable? In most lines of business, it's the standard informal default. Be glad you're not in law or finance.

      I would take a small pay cut if it meant I could do my job while dressed truly casually like I would be in any non-office job. Really the pay is the only reason I tolerate the nonsense of having to maintain a separate wardrobe that I only wear during work hours.

    14. Re:So what? by bluescrn · · Score: 1

      Well, at least they didn't make the astronauts wear ties...

    15. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, I went into the office today (long story - they moved some of us around on Thursday and Friday so we had to work from home those days - and I went in today - Saturday - for an hour or so just to make sure my new setup was OK) wearing shorts and a t-shirt. The only people I saw in the whole office park complex were some maintenance and janitorial staff, so I doubt anyone cared that I was in shorts. Getting fired for that just seems asinine.

    16. Re: So what? by Darinbob · · Score: 1, Funny

      The company should fork over some money if the workers have to invest in an entirely new wardrobe.

    17. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I certainly do. In the office, it is too hot to wear long pants. Yes, the ladies complain it is too cold. But for me, too hot for long pants. Also, the correct shoes are uncomfortable - especially when you go on several walks (1.5 miles each time) per day during breaks. So I wear a short sleeved shirt, khakis (that are too hot), but white tennis shoes. Sue me.

    18. Re:So what? by catmistake · · Score: 1

      Clothing is among the fundamental elements of civilization. Clothes make the man -- always hated this, but seems true enough: dress affects behavior, behavior determines performance. It certainly doesn't seem fair that those among us with poor taste should be punished for it, but nearly everyone I've ever encountered is very quick to judge based on incredibly short and shallow impressions. If one desires success in corporate career, one will make themselves more attractive, less offensive, and embrace a level of vane pageantry. Yet most prefer to dress how they feel, or as an adjustment to their attractiveness to increase or decrease the level of their social engagement.

    19. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I care. My companies lax dress code is one of the top reasons I stay with them. If you are in R&D it makes no difference how you dress, plus people who work from home work in their PJs. How you dress doesn't matter when you are truly productive (e.g. not sales or marketing drones).

    20. Re:So what? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Well, at least they didn't make the astronauts wear ties...

      Not until they got back on Earth.

      http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTY1...

      The point being that you didn't see anyone from the space program that sent guys to the moon and brought them back alive trying to draw attention to themselves with flashy shirts with scantily clad ladies on them. But back then, the people who were part of the space program didn't think of themselves as special snowflakes.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    21. Re:So what? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      So I have to spend more on my suits to accomplish ... what exactly? How does it improve my work if I don a costume that makes me feel like a dork?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    22. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      > And this is what Logic 101 would call a non sequitur.

      Your entire response is the non sequitur. You're describing a "mutually exclusive" condition that was not implied. Absolute interpretations of casual observations, are childish. -1 for redundancy as there's no "oxymoronic" choice.

    23. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, at least they didn't make the astronauts wear ties...

      Not until they got back on Earth.

      http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTY1...

      The point being that you didn't see anyone from the space program that sent guys to the moon and brought them back alive trying to draw attention to themselves with flashy shirts with scantily clad ladies on them. But back then, the people who were part of the space program didn't think of themselves as special snowflakes.

      'Special snowflakes' is it?

      Funny that, over the years I've never confused the container with the contents..

    24. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And your colleague didn't immediate respond by telling everyone involved to go fuck themselves?

      This is why you can't have nice things

    25. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Things have changed at TI. I wear shorts and sandals there every damn day in the summer

    26. Re:So what? by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Indeed. All show and no substance. Currently, substance is becoming more and more important in IT as troubles raise, and they try to piss off their staff? HP is a goner for sure.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    27. Re:So what? by gweihir · · Score: 1

      A uniform is not a "dress code". It is a provided, fixed dress style. A "dress code" allows various selection of garments. Also remember that pupils have limited say in what schools they go to.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    28. Re:So what? by gweihir · · Score: 2

      Dress codes are always praised by those that cannot offer anything else besides conformance. At the moment, many companies are getting rid of the creative thinkers (to their long-term detriment), and a dress-code is a good way to do that, as creative thinkers really hate spending time on complete side-issues like dress.

      All it will do for HP is that the remaining (few) good engineers and scientists will take a hard look at their other prospects and some will leave. A tech company that does not place the techies first is dead in the long run.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    29. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's nonsense.

      It's possible to have both professional appearance AND professional performance.

    30. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Professionalism! PROFESSIONALISM!
      You there, in the baseball cap -- BE PROFESSIONAL!!!!!

    31. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's almost like they do every two weeks.

      Now, in the military, I have a contract. I can't quit. They pay me a clothing allowance. However, HP employees aren't indentured, and can say "fuck you, I quit" if they don't like the dress code.

    32. Re: So what? by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      It's almost like they do every two weeks.

      Now, in the military, I have a contract. I can't quit. They pay me a clothing allowance. However, HP employees aren't indentured, and can say "fuck you, I quit" if they don't like the dress code.

      They pay them extra money every two weeks to buy their new wardrobe? Oh, well, then nevermind.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    33. Re:So what? by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      I would take a small pay cut if it meant I could do my job while dressed truly casually like I would be in any non-office job. Really the pay is the only reason I tolerate the nonsense of having to maintain a separate wardrobe that I only wear during work hours.

      Exactly. The ability to dress casual is part of the compensation package. If they take away the ability to dress casual, it is the same effect as reducing your health benefits, your vacation days or your salary. They have effectively reduced the compensation package for their employees without offering any accompanying increase in other areas to make up for it. The most obvious area would be salary, since they now have to buy a whole new wardrobe.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    34. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A shirt ... is fine.

      That's why I refuse to work for places with nonsensical dress codes.

      Shirts are for bitches, and pants are for plebs. If I can't wrangle systems in my underpants, we have nothing to discuss.

    35. Re:So what? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      They are not mutually exclusive.

      Yes they are. If a finite percentage of your evaluation is based on how you dress, then it is a logical necessity for other things to count for less. I have worked for a business that required ties. I have also worked for companies that required slacks and collared shirts. I currently work for a company that is fine with shorts, sandals and tank tops. The tie company was a defense contractor, that sucked up lots of tax dollars, but never delivered a working product. The collared shirt and slacks company had lots of time wasting meetings, and was always six months to a year behind schedule. The shorts and sandals company ships code daily and has lots of happy customers, who also tend to wear shorts and sandals.

    36. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Middle of the 1980's, I was working at TI. Stopped in the office on a Saturday to pick up something from my cubicle. The security guard (they carried guns back then) wouldn't let me in because I was wearing short.

    37. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have 2 children in college and am trying to save for retirement.
      The difference between Costco jeans and A&F slacks is quite a bit and the slacks do not change how I think or work or research and solve problems.

    38. Re: So what? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      So buy slacks at WalMart. Under $20.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    39. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't code in business casual. I have thoracic outlet syndrome and a "proper" male business shirt causes discomfort, so I fret over that all day. I code best in underwear while singing, I'm willing to shut my mouth and wear clothes, but I draw the line at being asked to wear something that interferes with my work. If I were at HP I'd either quit or wear female clothes as they get to wear lighter shirts.

    40. Re:So what? by ChrisMaple · · Score: 3, Funny

      vane pageantry

      Any way the wind blows.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    41. Re: So what? by mlts · · Score: 2

      I've found that "business casual" means a lot of different things as per workplace.

      When I first started at a call center ages ago, "business casual" meant the people on the phones had to wear a suit, tie and jacket, but there was the relative luxury that the top button could be unbuttoned.

      Another startup, "business casual" meant just three layers of food in your beard.

      Still another place used the expression to mean that wearing a decent golf shirt tucked in is OK.

    42. Re: So what? by GrantRobertson · · Score: 1

      I get almost all my slacks and dress-casual shirts at the Goodwill, or other thrift, store. I often find things that look as good as new for $2 - $5. Because the slacks are usually in better shape than the jeans in thrift stores, it is actually cheaper for me to wear dress casual.

    43. Re:So what? by BetterSense · · Score: 1

      I worked at DMOS5 from 08 to '12, having contact with DFAB, DMOS6 and RFAB. On the fab side, jeans are normal up to the branch management level, easily, and business casual is normal even for VPs. I first started there I went out and bought BC clothes just in case but after I realized I would be out dressing my hypervisor went back to jeans and a button down. It's a big company though.

    44. Re:So what? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2

      If you want to find someone who's going to climb the ladder and be successful, find one of the nicer dressed people. Not THE nicest dressed, he's trying to compensate for something. If you want to find someone who has skills that don't involve telling other people what to do, find the guy who is either not wearing clothes that are as nice, or looks like he doesn't quite belong in them.

    45. Re:So what? by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 1

      Who cares? Are that many geeks worn down by the brutal requirement to wear something slightly more formal than gym clothes?

      I'd call having to pay for dry cleaning a pay cut. Dress codes help only the fashion industry, otherwise i's the cheapest thing that covers the naughty bits.

    46. Re:So what? by whoever57 · · Score: 1

      I worked at DMOS5 from 08 to '12,

      I am talking early '90s. As I said, that incident resulted in a softening of the policy. Even under the old policy, jeans were OK, it was shorts that were forbidden.

      --
      The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    47. Re: So what? by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1

      or at costco for that matter. I'm sure they're right next to the jeans :)

    48. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ties and suites are business attire. Khakis and collard t-shirts are business casual.

    49. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HP Folks do get lots of vacation time but just not in the US. In some countries there is a legal minimum for vacation time. I think it is 42 days in France.
      The UK is 20 days (IIRC).

      The thorny issue is if they let you take it. That is a very different question.

    50. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And this is what Logic 101 would call a non sequitur.

      The institution I've been with the strictest dress code was the private school I went to - it also had near top national academic performance.

      A private school with above average funding resulting in above average test scores. What a shocker!

      To credit that result to school uniforms is by your own definition, a non sequitur.

    51. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not a deduction, fool.

    52. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No.

      They are not mutually exclusive.

      The institution I've been with the strictest dress code was the private school I went to - it also had near top national academic performance. The principle was not that people were required to waste time worrying about what they wore, but that people didn't worry about what they wore, as everyone was wearing the same thing: a well-fitting, comfortable, smart uniform.

      In my experience the best performers are people who don't care about their surroundings regardless if it is an enforced monotonie. Private schools have the benefit of a better teacher selection, more money for other educational resources and there usually is more pressure on the pupils to get good grades than on more casual schools. There are public schools with dresscode that don't perform that well and private schools without dresscode that perform great.

      We also need more tinkerers than people who can prefectly recite the currently known. It would of course help to know a lot too, but from my experience most private schools focus to much on grades and don't leave enough time to learn stuff on your own and experiement (Alcohol excesses don't count).

    53. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is the same program that wouldn't let coloreds do anything but clean the toilets and women do anything but answer phone calls. Lets not go romanticizing the past.

    54. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At Ericsson I once saw a guy working topless without getting fired, or at least that's what I hope he did. He was sitting at his desk so I didn't see the parts of him that I assumed he was still covering. That was in some kind of higher tier of R&D, more R than D, so those guys are probably difficult to replace. He was sitting a couple of cubicles away from the guy with the Lenin poster.

    55. Re:So what? by cfalcon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      > The security guard (they carried guns back then) wouldn't let me in because I was wearing short.

      You need to also wear the other short. Just one short is crazy territory.

    56. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Counterpoint: Those Enron guys sure looked snazzy in their suits.

      >a well-fitting, comfortable, smart uniform.

      Literally NONE of those words apply to an off the rack suit or many "business casual" clothes. You want people to have a consistent uniform, buy them a bloody jumpsuit with the corporate logo on it.

    57. Re: So what? by Archimonde · · Score: 1

      Yeah, if your wardrobe only consists of crocs and flip flops you are in trouble...

      --
      Trolls are like broken clocks. They show the truth two times a day. The rest of the day they talk nonsense.
    58. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. Who is getting promotions, wage raises and opportunities in my company? The guys wearing suits. Who's the best DBA of my company? The guy wearing yellow shoes.

      Sadly, I don't like wearing suits, and my technical skills aren't outstanding enough to overcome that.

    59. Re: So what? by cyber-vandal · · Score: 2

      I take it you've never heard of Margaret Hamilton or Admiral Grace Hopper who somehow managed to excel in a much more sexist society than we have now because instead of whining about the patriarchy on Twitter or Jezebel, they went and proved themselves better than their male peers.

    60. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who thinks of business casual as being uncomfortable?

      I do. I don't like wearing shirts, even more if they have long sleeves, I sweat a lot in them, Ties are annoying, formal shoes destroy my feet. Whenever I have to dress like that, I'm constantly uncomfortable and it does hinder my performance.

    61. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Em... Pants are available in other colors dude!

    62. Re: So what? by Ramze · · Score: 1

      Business casual at a call center where I worked meant polo shirt, khakis, and dress shoes (I chose Doc Martins as they're like dressy tennis shoes). Polo shirts and khakis are just one slight nudge away from the full monkey suit I had to wear working for banks. Do you really want to spend half of your life wearing uncomfortable clothing? Most of your waking life, actually.

      Seriously, I worked in government offices and universities where I wore jeans and t-shirts every day. Professors even taught classes in Hawaiian shirts and shorts with flip flops. People were happy and productive. They didn't look like slobs, either.

      Millions of students go to college every day in jeans and t-shirts. Heck, some go to class in their pajamas. They still work hard, make the grade, and many even discover new things - just like an R&D division. Grad students that publish important new discoveries are seldom seen wearing anything but jeans, t-shirts,and maybe a lab coat and goggles if needed. It's beyond stupid to expect R&D to perform better with a monkey suit or business casual than if they were allowed to wear whatever made them feel comfortable and relaxed so that they could focus on creative solutions and new experiments.

    63. Re: So what? by samoanbiscuit · · Score: 1

      >I take it you've never heard of Margaret Hamilton or Admiral Grace Hopper who somehow managed to excel in a much more sexist society than we have now because instead of whining about the patriarchy on Twitter or Jezebel, they went and proved themselves better than their male peers. What if a girl entering into STM was only just as good as her male peers? Why does a minority have to out-perform to reach the same results? Don't you think that's unfair, and still biased?

    64. Re:So what? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Ties and suites are business attire.

      How does that work, then? Chair on each leg and the sofa on your torso?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    65. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For every step above jeans and a t-shirt you get.

      Those people do exponentially less actual work. work as in getting things acomplished.

      Best dressed? Ceo. Acomplishments? Fuckall and hot air.

    66. Re:So what? by Demonoid-Penguin · · Score: 2

      Clothing is among the fundamental elements of civilization. Clothes make the man -- always hated this, but seems true enough: dress affects behavior, behavior determines performance. It certainly doesn't seem fair that those among us with poor taste should be punished for it, but nearly everyone I've ever encountered is very quick to judge based on incredibly short and shallow impressions. If one desires success in corporate career, one will make themselves more attractive, less offensive, and embrace a level of vane pageantry. Yet most prefer to dress how they feel, or as an adjustment to their attractiveness to increase or decrease the level of their social engagement.

      To expand - not necessarily contradict
      Clothes don't make the man. Put an idiot in a $1000 suit and you have a well dressed idiot. Clothes make an impression on the viewer - and sometimes, they affect the behaviour of the wearer.

      When it comes to impressions it depends on how educated the viewer is. To some, someone wearing black "slacks" and a white shirt is in "business clothes", to others the same person could be a waiter in a low-end café.

      When I was younger I knew nothing about good clothes - just price tags. I couldn't tell a Anderson & Sheppard suit from something off the rack at Target, or a genuine Rolex from a Bangkok special. I met a weird guy wearing worn shoes and a tattered jumper and made the mistake of misjudging him. I've since learnt to identify Italian kid leather shoes, tailored silk and wool mix trouser, and non-homespun mohair jumpers - and what it means when someone will wear them gardening. They can afford expensive clothes, they avoid showy displays, they recognise quality, and they are frugal - i.e. A grade client. Weird also meant he wasn't conventional - if he was he wouldn' t have been a multi-billionaire (nuts is the low income version of eccentric). That someone needs to make a good impression on a stranger speaks for itself.

      HP hopes to market themselves to the mainstream. Makes sense. They don't want to be cutting edge, or leaders. Conservative, predictable and low budget. It's not like they're saying "formal", or "smart business".

      tl;dr dress does say a lot about the wearer, in combination with deportment - but only if the viewer is educated. The cost of the clothing is only a measure of what that person is, apparently, willing to spend on their image - which does tell you something about the person (in the right context). Whether you can tell if they own those clothes is another thing. How obvious the expense of the clothes (bling factor) is tells you something else. If the person wears cheap, comfortable clothing it doesn't automatically mean they are cheap - they could simply be more focussed on substance over style. If it's not engineered properly it can backfire, badly. Someone who's uncomfortable in a suit and tie looks less untrustworthy in jeans.

      What any of those things mean - when properly interpreted, depends on what you want. If you want a company that play follow the leader - pick the suits, and maybe they'll help you pick up the scraps left by less conventional pioneers on a well-worn trail.

      In IT image is probably more important because the product is often intangible - if you provide on-site support and the client pays $200 every time a tech visits to install a mouse, that ($35phr) tech had better be well-dressed, driving a clean, well-maintained, recent model car, and not chewing gum or picking their nose. That way the client's staff don't resent your staff (as much). But if the clients wears Lanvin suits and pay you $300+ and hour to advice them on IT - don' t turn up wearing a shiny Italian suit (or Tommy Hilfiger). A plain cotton shirt and jeans is usually fine (just don't mumble, or fail to look directly in their eyes).

    67. Re:So what? by Demonoid-Penguin · · Score: 1

      What purpose does dressing uncomfortably serve?

      It can demonstrate that you are a loser. A reliable and pliable underling. It certainly demonstrates that you've got bad clothing, and that you're willing to be submissive. A good suit is comfortable.

      I'll wear a good suit when it serves a purpose i.e. when wearing it is a profitable investment. It's a negotiating tool. What I won't wear is a big arrow round my neck pointing at my dick. But then my strength is not being conventional.

      Some jobs require tugging the forelock - those that chose those roles, um, well - each to their own. Service isn't necessarily servility.

      Clothing that cost more than a weeks wage doesn't say good thing about the wearer.

      The MBA morons that judge based on clothes and not substance of ideas are what needs to go.

      Perhaps they could find work selling wash-once Japanese sabiro suits?

      Seriously - they should be contractually bound to the fate of their stupid ideas. Though style over substance sometimes sells - in the long-term, not so much. If the company dies because of dress codes that didn't result in a better bottom line, they should be sent swimming with pockets full of rocks instead being allowed to bail out with a golden parachute.

    68. Re: So what? by loufoque · · Score: 0

      I wear those everyday, to me that's normal casual clothing.

      Seriously, I worked in government offices and universities where I wore jeans and t-shirts every day. Professors even taught classes in Hawaiian shirts and shorts with flip flops. People were happy and productive. They didn't look like slobs, either.

      That sounds very unprofessional, but then civil servants and university teachers tend to be hippies, so that's understandable.

      Millions of students go to college every day in jeans and t-shirts. Heck, some go to class in their pajamas. They still work hard, make the grade, and many even discover new things - just like an R&D division

      That's not enough if you ever want to make a name for yourself, build your reputation, get a raise, responsibilities, have clients ask for you or people demanding that you specifically take part in a critical project.
      If you want to succeed professionally, you have to be professional and not look like a care-free zealot.

    69. Re: So what? by loufoque · · Score: 1

      If you want a carefree lifestyle, don't work for a company that expects you to have some decency in your get-up to work?

    70. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Either invest some of that money into attire that will make you look better in the eye of recruiters or even your actual bosses, or do not and eventually run out of money altogether when you're out of a job. Whining about appearances won't help: you cannot change corporate culture, you can only adapt or be flushed out. Of course, you won't need no fancy clothes when your only career option will be garbage man or burger flipper. Your choice. :)

    71. Re: So what? by ultranova · · Score: 1

      Business casual doesn't even require suits. A shirt or even a polo shirt is fine.
      All it requires is basically that you don't look like a hobo.

      Technically speaking, if you've ever moved for a job you are a hobo, so not looking like one would require you to wear an identity-concealing costume. In other words, a Batman costume both counts as and is required by this definition of "business casual".

      And that's a brilliant strategy: a company staffed entirely by Batmen is going to kick ass in the marketplace. And what suicidal criminal would even dream of cracking their hardware? Yes, this is clearly the turning point of HP's fortunes: it's time to take Gotham - no, the World!

      Nananananananananana HP! HP!

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    72. Re:So what? by BetterSense · · Score: 1

      Interestingly, when I was going to UTD, wearing shorts in their little amateur hour cleanroom was a serious safety violation; of all the dozen or so commercial cleanrooms I have been in since then, shorts were allowed with no problem. Some of them even have low-crotch clean suits so you can wear full-length skirts. ...they remind me of those wing suits.

    73. Re:So what? by ultranova · · Score: 1

      Clothes don't make the man. Put an idiot in a $1000 suit and you have a well dressed idiot. Clothes make an impression on the viewer - and sometimes, they affect the behaviour of the wearer.

      But people are not defined solely by their core attributes, but also by their social relationships. That well-dressed idiot might be attractive enough to make their approval socially valuable to a not-so-attractive genius, who's advice and support in turn boosts their performance above average. So in this way clothes do make the man by partially determining which paths are open for the man to choose.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    74. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They aren't mutually exclusive, but usually by the time a company gets to this point they've lost track of the difference between appearance and reality.

      IBM was one thing; their dress code was a long-term part of their corporate culture. HP? Not so much.

      If HP really is pushing this (I work for one of the HP ESP divisions and I haven't heard anything about it yet), it's just another sign of how completely out-of-touch upper management is. Fits right in with all the other shit they've been pushing in the last few years, like open plan workspaces for everyone and eliminating the work from home policy. Probably at least partially for the same reason as the latter (to get people to quit instead of having to give them severance packages), but also because upper management is full of PowerPoint MBAs who don't have the slightest clue about how to run an actual tech company.

    75. Re:So what? by Cederic · · Score: 0

      So where a skirt, not khakis.
      Take a second pair of shoes. You can change your shoes you know?

    76. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clothes still don't make the person. A smart person will dress in rags to paint his house and a suit to settle a deal.

      Clothes cause other people to think of you differently. They don't change you. If they make you think of yourself differently, you might be unsure of who it is you are, and I recommend you seek a qualified mental health professional.

    77. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It has been proven many times that IT is vastly more effective when they feel like IT, and not a dumb show-piece to impress vapid customers who never see IT anyway. Any person who is only productive when wearing a suit is a person who you really ought not hire, because who knows what they steal or reveal to competitors as soon as they get home and aren't dressed up anymore, as it's only the clothes that cause them to work?

    78. Re: So what? by petteyg359 · · Score: 1

      Do you also like hot blondes, even if they're racist assholes? Placing appearance before everything else says nothing but bad things about the person judging.

    79. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Get some that fit you. Roll (carefully! be neat about it! it's more like folding) the sleeves up. Voila. Short sleeve, looks like you're extra serious and hard at work. Cuff your pants while you're at it, so they just graze the top of your shoe when standing up. I started doing that because of rainy days, but it looks professional if you do it neatly.

    80. Re:So what? by 50000BTU_barbecue · · Score: 1

      Yes. I may have a unique metabolism, I don't know, but anything else than a white cotton t-shirt and I break out in smelly sweat.
      Polyester is the worst.

      --
      Mostly random stuff.
    81. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "What women?"

      And as old as you are, you're probably still asking the same question now!

    82. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And this is what Logic 101 would call a non sequitur.

      the more that company cares about having a professional appearance,

      Yes.

      and less about professional performance.

      No.

      They are not mutually exclusive.

      The institution I've been with the strictest dress code was the private school I went to - it also had near top national academic performance. The principle was not that people were required to waste time worrying about what they wore, but that people didn't worry about what they wore, as everyone was wearing the same thing: a well-fitting, comfortable, smart uniform.

      Yes, yes they are. When you force your workers to be uncomfortable, by forcing a stupid dress code, you are diminishing productivity in favor of looks. There are plenty of relevant sayings about looks vs what's under the skin, or words vs actions, etc. Any dumb fuck can wear a suit - I had the pleasure of getting a few suited morons with rich parents at my college almost arrested when they decided having a drunken party in the dorm room next to mine was a good idea. Suits say absolutely NOTHING about performance.

    83. Re:So what? by Demonoid-Penguin · · Score: 1

      Clothes don't make the man. Put an idiot in a $1000 suit and you have a well dressed idiot. Clothes make an impression on the viewer - and sometimes, they affect the behaviour of the wearer.

      But people are not defined solely by their core attributes, but also by their social relationships. That well-dressed idiot might be attractive enough to make their approval socially valuable to a not-so-attractive genius, who's advice and support in turn boosts their performance above average. So in this way clothes do make the man by partially determining which paths are open for the man to choose.

      I sort of agree with you. In the correct sense of the word a genius excels in a number of areas. An idiot not so much.

      I can't say I've met any well dressed handsome idiots that have done well, at least in the long term - though I've certainly met some who lost all the money they inherited.

      I've met very smart people who've done very well (financially and socially) - like most mortal they're dumb in many areas. The few true geniuses I've met have either been unhappy and unstable, or happy - the latter group aren't what idiots call successful. With the latter type of genius - most idiots tend to say of them, unsurprisingly, stupid things like "I don't understand why they aren't rich and famous"

      Those few well-adjusted geniuses I've met tended to keep a low profile.

      Perhaps it's all about what defines "success", don't you think?

    84. Re:So what? by Demonoid-Penguin · · Score: 1

      Clothes still don't make the person. A smart person will dress in rags to paint his house and a suit to settle a deal.

      Clothes cause other people to think of you differently. They don't change you. If they make you think of yourself differently, you might be unsure of who it is you are, and I recommend you seek a qualified mental health professional.

      Succinct. I agree. A smart person dresses for environmental protection and effect. The desired effect is likely to be just what they designed it to be (a suit to give leverage in a given situation), rags when they don't want to get good clothes damaged - or they want to deceive, or because they just don't give a fuck about what the viewer thinks (cautious about whose opinion they make themselves a prisoner of).

    85. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who cares? Are that many geeks worn down by the brutal requirement to wear something slightly more formal than gym clothes?

      Yesss-ish. It's a status symbol. Corporate and financial culture values the "business professional" look, because it says something like "I know who is boss! The boss likes to pay me!" Geeks tend to value unusual and unorthodox dress because it says "the quality of my work transcends your inability to distinguish style from substance."

      Even if you don't care to fight that battle, it's a bad sign for a professional geek if your company can afford to replace you based on your sense of fashion.

    86. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, uniforms do remove distractions for young, easily distracted minds.
      Presumably, once one becomes an adult, this kind of guidance shouldn't be necessary.

    87. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe there's a reason he didn't choose law or finance.

    88. Re: So what? by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      They don't have to except in the minds of the Twitterati.

    89. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Where I work we have an extremely strict dress code:

      You must be dressed

      That's it. Also, we're profitable, don't get forced to work crazy hours, etc. etc.

    90. Re:So what? by dlingman · · Score: 1

      Just like the uniforms required by every other evil overlord...

    91. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a California company, however. Not a stuffy East Coast stick-up-the-ass company. Well, I suppose HP is become exactly that then.

    92. Re: So what? by Your.Master · · Score: 2

      I don't like dress codes either, but:

      1. This is not a demand for $6000 suits, it's business casual. For men at least, I am skeptical that the workers don't own at least some polo shirts and slacks (I don't claim to know women's warddrobes). I happen to dress business casual by accident frequently.
      2. These are HP engineers, not minimum wage manual labourers. They don't need an allowance to buy regular person clothes. They didn't need an allowance to buy their initial clothes either.

    93. Re: So what? by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      Business casual doesn't even require suits. A shirt or even a polo shirt is fine. All it requires is basically that you don't look like a hobo.

      It's a good idea, because it clues the employees in that whatever the hell they are being paid for and rated on, their actual work is not it.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    94. Re: So what? by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      The company should fork over some money if the workers have to invest in an entirely new wardrobe.

      that's kind of the point. consider: everybody owns a few pairs of jeans. they are affordable, durable, comfortable, and go in the washing machine without problem. they are widely accepted in public places today, and, finally, they are cut so that most people look reasonably good in them.
      therefore, obviously, you are not allowed to wear them in the workplace.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    95. Re:So what? by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      And this is what Logic 101 would call a non sequitur.

      the more that company cares about having a professional appearance,

      Yes.

      and less about professional performance.

      No.

      They are not mutually exclusive.

      The institution I've been with the strictest dress code was the private school I went to - it also had near top national academic performance. The principle was not that people were required to waste time worrying about what they wore, but that people didn't worry about what they wore, as everyone was wearing the same thing: a well-fitting, comfortable, smart uniform.

      well of course they are mutually exclusive. "Your rating here will depend 100% on your performance" "Also 100% on your professional clothing". If A + B =100%, yes they are mutually exclusive.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    96. Re:So what? by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      What purpose does dressing uncomfortably serve?

      The MBA morons that judge based on clothes and not substance of ideas are what needs to go.

      business casual was the major and attitude of the guys snoozing at the back of the class freshman year.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    97. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That best DBA is going to be just that: the best DBA. He won't get promoted. Meanwhile, people with better social skills and dress sense will make a career. :)

    98. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are a drone yes. You know like most of the workforce. But developers are exactly the type of people that would be horrible at their work if they were drones, so most of them hate to be treated as drones, and they are self aware enough that they will NOT be positively influenced by a dress code.

        Doing that is just a countdown to losing your most intelligent people.

    99. Re: So what? by DarthVain · · Score: 1

      Exactly. During hot summer months, I'm mostly in a nice polos, cargo shorts, and sandals, it isn't that hard. In the winter I its usually a collared shirt and pants, but it is more weather appropriate then.

      We have the opposite issue people all racing to the top trying to over dress to impress. Should have a business casual dress code go both ways... Wearing a suit jacket in July/August for your entry level position? Go home and change you jerk!

    100. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Logic isn't everything. There is no rule of logic that says that what goes up must come down, but at the same time you must throw something pretty fucking fast to land it on the moon. It may not be a rule of logic, but it is a rule of experience of how the universe works. And in the same way our experience tells us that usually the more an IT firm cares about dress code, the less it cares about performance.

    101. Re:So what? by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

      Absolutely. In past jobs, while I've been sweating my balls off in an uncomfortable golf shirt and pants in a hot-as-fuck office, my female coworks get to wear nice light blouses, capris, skirts, dresses, etc. Best part is, we didn't even face the public or any external clients. If clothing so important, I'll just buy a suit and tie, sling it on my chair, and take a vacation. It's the clothes that do the work after all, right?

    102. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Margaret Hamilton? Oh, yeah, she was wicked smart!

      http://images.beautyworldnews.com/data/images/full/19745/margaret-hamilton.jpg?w=600

    103. Re: So what? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      If you believe that everyone who doesn't wear a shirt "looks like a hobo", you're a part of the problem. Stop being judgmental towards people who choose convenience in their clothing over some rather arbitrary and outdated criteria based solely on looks.

    104. Re:So what? by demonlapin · · Score: 1

      One might look to traditional styles of dress in hot climates for a clue... there's a reason that linen and seersucker are considered business dress in the South in summer. Skip the polyester, you'll melt.

    105. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      While you were in the process of writing that, was there any point at which you thought what you were writing was at all clever?

    106. Re:So what? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1, Funny

      It's cleverer than writing "you can't spell, you thick fat fucking Alaskan cunt".

      What's your motivation, skids?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    107. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And this is what Logic 101 would call a non sequitur.

      It's also what a mathematician would call correlation.

    108. Re:So what? by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      No, because component-percentages don't model all scenarios. Dress code is a pass/fail, rather than a percentage of your evaluation. To re-cast it into academic terms, you get an automatic 0% on your test if you get caught cheating. Does that mean that 100% of your test evaluation was "doesn't get caught cheating"? No. You either got caught cheating, or you didn't (presumably because you didn't cheat). If you didn't get caught cheating, then your marks are based on how you completed the test. If you did get caught cheating, your marks are 0% regardless of how you completed the test. Your overall marks in that class reflect how you did on all tests/exams/quizzes/homework assignments etc. put together in a weighted average. It's possible to cheat on all, on none, or on only parts. Still, you can reasonably state that 0% of your final mark is based on "not cheating" / "not getting caught".

      Furthermore, I bet the companies you worked for didn't allow "fully nude". So you were already evaluated on dress code compliance. Just because the definition of what is compliant changes, doesn't mean it figures more or less strongly into your salary or whatever.

    109. Re: So what? by Dashiva+Dan · · Score: 1

      Business casual doesn't even require suits. A shirt or even a polo shirt is fine. All it requires is basically that you don't look like a hobo.

      Denim Jeans, a good t-shirt and nikes do not a hobo make.

      p.s. Personally, I think polo shirts are gateway-hobo

      --
      "lt;dr" is the correct response to most of my posts.
    110. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      S/He was short of shorts, you insensitive clod!

    111. Re: So what? by jwhitener · · Score: 1

      Business casual doesn't even require suits. A shirt or even a polo shirt is fine.
      All it requires is basically that you don't look like a hobo.

      It usually requires slightly nicer slacks / khakis, and slightly nicer shoes than hiking/running/tennis shoes. Most people, if given a choice, would rather just wear some worn in sneakers, jeans, and a t-shirt or polo.

      Business casual dress codes result in most people having two entirely different wardrobes.

    112. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All it requires is basically that you don't look like a hobo.

      Some do that to deter actual hobos/bums/whatever from hitting them up for spare change on the street.

  3. Ant technology! by slap20 · · Score: 2

    "HP was once known as a research ant technology giant..."

    I hear ant technology is the wave of the future!

    --
    ~Liberalism Is A Mental Disorder~
    1. Re:Ant technology! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "HP was once known as a research ant technology giant..."

      I hear ant technology is the wave of the future!

      I think we've reached peak ant technology. I don't foresee further developments.

    2. Re:Ant technology! by GNious · · Score: 4, Funny

      A comma was missing:

      "[...] as a research ant, technology giant [..]“

    3. Re:Ant technology! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Understanding ant technology will bring forth the advent of the human eusocial network, bootstrapping the global human supercolony!

    4. Re:Ant technology! by bluescrn · · Score: 1

      Well, first they've got to get the ants dressing a bit smarter, then they might perform...

    5. Re:Ant technology! by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      Well, first they've got to get the ants dressing a bit smarter, then they might perform...

      we've got pants on our ants.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    6. Re:Ant technology! by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      I saw a documentary on ant technology a week ago at the theater.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  4. Silly but by Teun · · Score: 0

    At least partially silly but I do understand some of the banned items like baseball caps (or any other head wear like hoodies) as they are totally impolite to be worn indoors.
    What I miss is a ban on dark glasses while speaking with someone.
    Anyway, what I mention as unacceptable are US-only problems :)
    Which brings up the next issue, dress style is depending on the culture you are living in and may vary greatly around the globe.

    --
    "The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
    1. Re: Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've yet to see a dress code policy that had any real impact on performance. Better to let people be comfortable than to push fashion on them.

      Finding science on the matter is a crap shoot. There's support for both business casual and casual.

    2. Re:Silly but by Knuckles · · Score: 2

      At least partially silly but I do understand some of the banned items like baseball caps (or any other head wear like hoodies) as they are totally impolite to be worn indoors.

      POV, even in US.

      --
      "When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
    3. Re:Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well, apparently that POV is shared by someone in charge so...

    4. Re:Silly but by Knuckles · · Score: 1

      well, apparently that POV is shared by someone in charge so...

      Yeah, it's the point of the story.

      --
      "When I first heard Daydream Nation it quite frankly scared the living shit out of me." -- Matthew Stearns
    5. Re:Silly but by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      At least partially silly but I do understand some of the banned items like baseball caps (or any other head wear like hoodies) as they are totally impolite to be worn indoors.

      You obviously are prejudiced against middle-aged guys with hair plugs. Don't be intolerant! Remember, "Plugs are People Too".

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    6. Re:Silly but by Pentium100 · · Score: 1

      What I miss is a ban on dark glasses while speaking with someone.

      I will use my clear glasses, as soon as you turn down the light (how you are going to do that if we are outside, I do not care). However, if it is too bright for me, I will use my dark glasses rather than have a headache (which can then only be cured by drinking ibuprofen and sitting in a really dark room for half an hour).

    7. Re: Silly but by plover · · Score: 1

      Dress codes make a slight amount of sense when the company has a requirement that many employees must wear uniforms. It's not fair to say, "you people who stand in front of customers all day must wear a blue shirt, green tie, and khaki pants" but then say, "you people are in the main office, so you're exempt from dressing like a dork." Some of the line workers resent it. Management can then decide if they want to settle the matter by subjecting everyone to a dress code.

      Of course HP doesn't require line workers to wear uniforms, so that's not the case here. This is just another stupid and capricious management decision by a company that's become famous over the last decade for having the most incompetent management of any (formerly) major corporation. HP's executives have been so bad it's easy to imagine an evil Michael Dell offered HP's board of directors one hundred million dollars -each- to sabotage HP into oblivion. (Hey, it makes a lot more sense than any other reason for imposing a dress code on engineers.)

      --
      John
    8. Re:Silly but by l0n3s0m3phr34k · · Score: 1

      I work for HP E, in the old SABRE building that they just spent millions on re-doing. It's a constant 68 in there, many people have to wear hoodies, wrap themselves in blankets, etc.

    9. Re:Silly but by Moof123 · · Score: 1

      At least partially silly but I do understand some of the banned items like baseball caps (or any other head wear like hoodies) as they are totally impolite to be worn indoors.

      I often do a lot of CAD work, usually a bunch of squiggly crap on a black background. Overhead fluorescent lights in my field of view really bug me when I am in in the midst of that type of work. I often wear a baseball cap to block the light that is right above the corner of my cube. I also often come in on weekends where I can turn off the overhead lights in my area and also have very few distractions when I really need to be immersed.

    10. Re:Silly but by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      Wearing a headpiece indoors is excusable only if your head looks really bad - from injury or disease.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    11. Re:Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fine, you get an exemption, Gollum.

    12. Re: Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I happen to have a massive chunk missing from a quadrant in the back of my head, despite having lush thick hair at 40. I always wear a cap which keeps the incessant questions down from people walking behind, as I'm sitting at a console.

    13. Re:Silly but by bobstreo · · Score: 2

      Wearing a headpiece indoors is excusable only if your head looks really bad - from injury or disease.

      Slippery slope here. What about yarmulkes? What about Sikhs wearing turbans? What about women wearing hijab, niqab,or burkas?

    14. Re:Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Plugs Lives Matter!!!"

    15. Re:Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just out of curiosity, but what is the difference between those last three items?

    16. Re: Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not fair to say, "you people who stand in front of customers all day must wear a blue shirt, green tie, and khaki pants" but then say, "you people are in the main office, so you're exempt from dressing like a dork."

      Why isn't it fair? The jobs are fundamentally different, as is the compensation.

    17. Re:Silly but by ezelkow1 · · Score: 1

      Depends on the area of the US. In Colorado hoodies are basically the winter uniform in this state. Anytime it starts to get below 55 the hoodies start coming out. I have yet to see one person at my office that gives a crap that half the people are wearing them either.

      Of course no one really sits there with their hoodie up, it just so happens most warmer clothing people around here have are hoodies. Its not just an age thing either, we have 50 year old guys wearing them

    18. Re: Silly but by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

      It's totally fair. The line workers are representing the employer to the customers. The people at the main office aren't. There's literally no reason for them to be held to the same dress code as the line workers.

    19. Re:Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      68 and hoodies? Bunch of wussies. Sounds like you people dont have what it takes, get out of the way for those that do.

    20. Re:Silly but by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      well, apparently that POV is shared by someone in charge so...

      So the person in charge should refrain from wearing ballcaps indoors.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    21. Re:Silly but by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      Wearing a headpiece indoors is excusable only if your head looks really bad - from injury or disease.

      That's your opinion. I don't wear a hat, and will not wear a hat, but I have no problem with guys at work wearing hats.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    22. Re: Silly but by plover · · Score: 1

      I meant to say it's seen as unfair by the line workers.

      --
      John
    23. Re: Silly but by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Steel-toed boots and hard hat. People with crushed feet and dented skulls have problems performing well on construction sites.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    24. Re:Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As the above AC, thanks for the link. I hear the terms often, and use them sometimes, but probably always incorrectly. That page helps clear it up a bit, so I bookmarked it for future use.

      I'm posting AC because I used mod points already in this article.
      I'm New Around Here

    25. Re: Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Baseball caps are a godsend to guys who use them to camouflage their bald spot, healing hair transplant, or botched before-work midweek dye touch-up.

      Seriously. Being allowed to wear baseball caps is what enabled me to get three rounds of hair transplants without having to take a 3-6 month medical leave of absence. For a few weeks after each operation, my head was *totally* non-presentable.

    26. Re:Silly but by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      68 F is when long pants become marginally acceptable, but still not socks or long sleeves.

    27. Re:Silly but by Noah+Haders · · Score: 1

      i'm very multicultural and stuff, but niqabs are just horrible. every time i see a niqab in the US I have an extreme emotional reaction.

    28. Re:Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      68 and hoodies? Bunch of wussies. Sounds like you people dont have what it takes, get out of the way for those that do.

      I realize your snark, but how reasonable 68 degrees is greatly depends on the outside weather.

      I'm in Tampa, and they crank up the A/C in the office buildings, to the point that when I leave the building, my glasses fog up. We have an office in New England where even in July, they probably have to turn on the heat to keep the building at 68.

    29. Re:Silly but by Demonoid-Penguin · · Score: 1

      68 and hoodies? Bunch of wussies. Sounds like you people dont have what it takes, get out of the way for those that do.

      IBM have got a job for you as a media librarian in their tape storage and backup centre. Formal dress code is black trousers, dress shoes and a shirt. They supply the shirt - you wash it. You'll love the job - bugger all to do.

      When you've burnt off those 200lbs of bravado they'll drag your goose-pimpled skinny carcass out, strip off your company shirt and give it to the next blubbery fool.

    30. Re:Silly but by Cederic · · Score: 1

      What about them? Headgear indoors is bad form.

      Claim some religious exemption for your headgear and don't be surprised if I claim religious exemption for my lack of trousers.

    31. Re:Silly but by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or you could try a beach chair umbrella. Don't laugh, but I saw them being used in a large telco NOC facility recently. It was a large high ceiling building, and a number of employees were having trouble with glare depending on where their cubicle was set up.

    32. Re:Silly but by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      Honestly I've never heard of "headgear indoors is bad form". I do see that rule online referenced as a dying tradition that applied mostly to men (note the hijab, niqab, and burqas mostly don't apply to men).

      I've heard it's bad form when at a theater (because it can obstruct the view of people behind you -- which is a legitimate reason to ask turban-wearers to be conscientious about where they sit), and when you're eating (for some reason).

      Meanwhile, not wearing any bottom-covering is unacceptable almost everywhere but your own home and a few choice exceptions.

      A turban just isn't a big deal, and it's certainly not rude. I don't know why anybody gets worked up over it. Except, again, when it matters (hardhats for safety, theater-like situations when it blocks your view, etc.).

  5. So why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The only reasons I can think of for a move like this are:

    A) Improving the business' image to clients. But it's R&D for fuck's sake, so that can't be it.
    B) "Discipline", which would suggest that confidence and morale are down, which this change is not going to stem in any way.

    1. Re:So why? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

      Indeed, the people who work in R&D should be forced to wear the white lab coat, i.e. "R&D Casual".

      WTF is "business casual" anyway? A business suit with a funny tie?

    2. Re:So why? by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      I think it is the case HP R&D was running a bit too informal. As in they were not doing any real good Research and Development, and were mostly slaking off.
      I mean what do you think that is new and exciting from HP now? Printers Color and Black and White? While they are still the leader in printers they are mostly the same thing that has been around for decades. I can still find some Laserjet 4 kicking around and printing the same quality as the newest ones, they are just a little slower to do it. Desktop and Laptops? HP PCs are more or less the cheap mans out. On the PC Side Lenovo has been winning on the professional end, then a slew of cheaper makers on the consumer end.
      HP does a lot of other stuff too... But much of it isn't giving much press, and is falling behind.

      R&D May be slacking off, enjoying the care free "creative" work environment, a bit too much. Putting in a dress code, is to remind them that yes you are at work, not social time.

      Business casual dress isn't any more uncomfortable then dress down is it? But when you get up in the morning you say to yourself I need to dress for work.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:So why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed, the people who work in R&D should be forced to wear the white lab coat, i.e. "R&D Casual".

      WTF is "business casual" anyway? A business suit with a funny tie?

      Dockers and a button up shirt. Casual shoes, not sneakers.

    4. Re:So why? by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 1

      B) "Discipline", which would suggest that confidence and morale are down, which this change is not going to stem in any way.

      "Beating will continue until morale improves."

      --
      ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
    5. Re:So why? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      WTF is "business casual" anyway?

      Collared shirt. Long pants that are not jeans or cargo. Shoes that are not sandals or athletic (running, tennis, hiking, etc.) shoes. Socks.

    6. Re:So why? by mark-t · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I think it much more likely that they are wanting to trim some fat off of their employment expenses, and doing this is a quick and easy way to get some people to voluntarily quit without looking too conspicuously like constructive dismissal.

    7. Re: So why? by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      New from HP R&D? Agilent was split off years ago. The Corvalis Group is distant history.

      They're probably working on designing Printer Driver installers that only fit on a double layer DVD.

        I bought a new printer last week. HP wasn't even a consideration. I bought the best printer at the store which ended up being a Brother.

    8. Re:So why? by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

      Some companies spend fortunes in R&D, create a bunch of cool stuff, and... never turn any of it into actual products, usually due to stupid management. Maybe that's the case here?

    9. Re:So why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also no severance pay if they quit.

    10. Re:So why? by supremebob · · Score: 1

      Jeans (as long as they aren't ripped or stained) are considered OK for Business Casual now. Have been for a few years.

    11. Re:So why? by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

      The clothes that are sold at Fred Meyer, but you never buy because they're more expensive and less comfortable/useful.

    12. Re:So why? by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Depending on the industry, black jeans (in good condition) are acceptable, but blue may not be.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    13. Re:So why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If your goal is to cut down on slacking off, it would probably be more effective to simply firewall Facebook so no one can access it from the company network. This has the added bonus, if done right, of killing the effectiveness of those Facebook "like" buttons that I presume are used to track everyone's web usage regardless of whether they "like" the page or have a Facebook account.

    14. Re:So why? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Yeah, jeans aren't acceptable here. I combine a proper shirt with black jeans and competence, and get away with it.

  6. I never understand the point of that by dargaud · · Score: 0

    I have no idea what a baseball cap is used for except looking like a redneck, but what are you supposed to wear besides a T-shirt ? Going bare chested ?

    --
    Non-Linux Penguins ?
    1. Re:I never understand the point of that by ganjadude · · Score: 1

      i take it you are not american

      --
      have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
    2. Re:I never understand the point of that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Baseball caps reduce the horrid glare in our crappy, poorly ventilated office.

    3. Re:I never understand the point of that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...off peoples bald patches.

    4. Re:I never understand the point of that by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      You've never seen shirts with buttons? You need to get out more.

    5. Re:I never understand the point of that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Do you only wear tshirts? Sounds like you are the redneck then. They'd wear normal shirts, you know like polo shirts and button down shirts. If an outfit is so casual you wouldn't wear it to a bar, why should you wear it to work? Even going to a dive bar, I wear pants not shorts, and a button down not a tshirt. Something like a plaid button down is very casual yet appropriate.

    6. Re:I never understand the point of that by Moof123 · · Score: 1

      Thin hair and light skin. My head burns easily and I just wear mine out of habit a lot so that I am rarely without it. I often take it off indoors, but I always show up to work with one, and have an additional sun hat for when I go outside at lunch for a walk. Hats are useful as more than a fashion statement.

      Hipsters wearing knit winter hats in the middle of the blazing summer are just dumb however.

    7. Re:I never understand the point of that by Strider- · · Score: 1

      Maybe I've worked with the military too much, but the moment I walk in a door, any hat that I'm wearing instantly comes off. The one and only exception to this is if I'm working in a warehouse or similar environment, where a hard hat makes sense and/or is required.

      --
      ...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
    8. Re:I never understand the point of that by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

      Yeah you've worked in the military too much.

    9. Re:I never understand the point of that by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      I understand the point with sun hats, I sometimes wear one myself. But besides the extreme weather, I hate wearing hats and hoodies. Most people here seem to favour comfort over businesslike style, and I understand that to mean something relatively loose and light. A baseball cap just doesn't fit into that kind of equation for comfort. Besides, a cap that doesn't cover your ears is useless for some of the basic things a hat should provide, i.e. protection from the sun and staying warm in the winter.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    10. Re:I never understand the point of that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shirts with buttons? Only for weddings and funerals.

    11. Re:I never understand the point of that by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      A T-shirt is a short-sleeved collarless shirt with an unadjustable opening to put your head through, made of a thin, soft knitted material (usually cotton). If it's sleeveless or long-sleeved, it's not a T-shirt. If the shirt opens in back or in front, or if the neck opening buttons up, it's not a T-shirt. If it has a collar, it's not a T-shirt. If it's made of flannel, leather, shiny plastic or chain mail, it's not a T-shirt. If it's woven, not knitted, it's not a T-shirt. That leaves a lot of possibilities beyond T-shirt and bare-chested.

      --
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    12. Re:I never understand the point of that by zyzko · · Score: 1

      This is not restricted to military. I was raised (given the basic instructions on what to do where) in 1980s and then at home and in elementary school the rules were simple:

      - Man wearing hat indoors is not considered a gentleman. In classroom wearing hat was prohibited. Normally one should take hat off instantly when going indoors.
      - You don't eat with hat on. Even outdoors when you are primarily eating (sitting down).
      - You never, ever wear a hat to a place of worship. You also respect rules of the religion regarding clothing when visiting a church / temple of not your own religion.
      - When raising a flag or singing a national anthem you take off your hat. You do this out of courtesy even when abroad and a foreign flag is raised / anthem is sung in event you are participating in.

    13. Re:I never understand the point of that by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      You really need to get out more. There's a lot more people out there than your friends, and they don't dress the way you do. I wear a buttoned shirt every weekday, and so does everybody I work with.

    14. Re:I never understand the point of that by fredgiblet · · Score: 1

      The last one is the only one I've ever heard of, though the third one makes sense.

    15. Re:I never understand the point of that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      - You never, ever wear a hat to a place of worship.

      I was taught that you could, but you left it on the hat tree at the door. The rest were the same, except for eating outdoors. You might eat outdoors with a hat on at a picnic (wide brim) or a baseball game (cap) for example.

    16. Re:I never understand the point of that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't go to bars, but if I did, I'd tend to actually prefer t-shirt and shorts over pants and button-down unless it was something fancy.

  7. Seems reasonable. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

    This seems like a logical step to encourage an atmosphere of professionalism in which HP's remaining employees can train their H1B replacements.

  8. Agilent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's that?

  9. HP tried to step back in history today by msobkow · · Score: 3, Insightful

    HP tried to step back in history today to more profitable and professional times, unfortunately reality refused to cooperate and they were still bleeding money like a sieve. Worse, their engineers were now leaving because they were pissed off by the dress code.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    1. Re:HP tried to step back in history today by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Their R&D engineers left when HP decided to stop making PA-RISC and Alpha.

    2. Re:HP tried to step back in history today by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I left when:

      1. The printer group product marketing pukes on the other side of my cubical laughing about how their product had defects, returns and lacked profitability, but it was OK because he'd "get promoted and then it will be my replacement's problem"
      2. The printer group decided they didn't want any possible customer contact on the HP website because "answering just one question costs us the profits of 13.7 printers"
      3. Being told by Printer Group management it was impossible to process and digest even anonymous customer messages from the web, despite the fact I had just shown them how I'd done exactly that with less than 1 hour of work per week for the prior 3 months not just for printer customer submissions but for ALL OTHER GROUPS including computers, chemical, components, T&M, medical, etc.
      4. When the head of HP logistics described the new direct for HP (in 2000) to include "avoiding the risk of R&D by having Intel do our hardware R&D and Microsoft do our software R&D, and we'll own the supply chain!" They actually thought this was a good idea for a "technology company"!
      5. When I was told, after getting turned down for a promotion, being told I needed more business experience and being told I needed an MBA, going back to school and getting an MBA and then being told that "I didn't think you'd really do it, but no promotion; any way, no one is going anywhere for 5 years as we adjust to the HP/Agilent split"

      Basically it was clear that either HP upper management was:

      1. Suiciding the company
      2. Utterly incompetent
      3. Vampiring the company for their own personal financial gain

      So I left to a raise of 40% salary and a position with far more responsibility and never looked back.

  10. Actually, it's now Keysight, not Agilent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Agilent split itself into medical equipment and electronic test equipment. The former kept the Agilent name and the latter is now Keysight.

    Unless you want to buy an HP 5071A Cesium Primary Frequency Standard. That got sold to Symmetricom, which in turn got sold to Microsemi.

    1. Re:Actually, it's now Keysight, not Agilent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who in the hell comes up with a ridiculous name like "Microsemi" for their company? Sounds like something the writers for SNL would come up with.

  11. Arbitrary restrictions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are arbitrary

  12. Clickbait article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This policy would apply to HP Enterprise Services, not to HP R&D, although both were mentioned in the confused Register article.

    Don't people understand the difference? Enterprise Services is customer facing and bills by the hour, it's people who design "solutions" for customers by choosing, installing, and configuring HP hardware, software, and products from other vendors. T-shirts and slutty outfits might not go over so well in those type positions.

  13. Re:Dress codes are for cows. by ArcadeMan · · Score: 1

    sexy cow... moo... ^_^!

  14. It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by rrohbeck · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... in severance packages. A hostile work environment will definitely reduce personnel.

    Of course the smart people who have no problem finding another job will leave first.

    1. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by BenJeremy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      This.

      First pulling people back into the office after some have been telecommuting for years, often as HP's facilities have shrunk in most places - they are now expected to make the drive or relocate, regardless of the distance.

      Our team has exactly 4 people in this state, and two of them will absolutely HAVE to quit if not given exemptions (which seems unlikely), and another will probably be gone by the end of the year.

      They are effectively putting additional costs onto their employees, and want them to quit. Sadly, this (downright evil) tactic usually results in your best people leaving... and finding out that HP doesn't even pay engineers 75% of what their competitors do in the same geographical areas.

      All that remains are the employees who either lack the confidence in their skills to feel that they are employable elsewhere... or those employees who lack the skills.

      I don't think Meg has thought her cunning little plan all the way through.

    2. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by mark-t · · Score: 1

      All that remains are the employees who either lack the confidence in their skills to feel that they are employable elsewhere... or those employees who lack the skills.

      While I can certainly see how the first one would happen, if one actually lacks the skills to do their job, then shouldn't they have been fired already? Not being productive enough *is* a reason to let someone go.

    3. Re: It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Management views employees as replaceable widgets - she will hire some other low cost drones to do the same job. No biggie there

    4. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by BenJeremy · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The second happens when people join, typically fresh out of school, and never build their skills, always kind of hanging on in the fringe. It's quite easy in a large company like HP, too... it's harder to fire the same guy you wouldn't hire,so to speak.

      A recent "Town Hall" had an executive telling us all that a manager would re-evaluate the positions that were left by personnel quitting (imagine that), including who they'd hire in that spot.

      He also expected us to report to offices, even if there was no space, because engineers love to work off of 15" laptop screens, on laptop keyboards, while sitting on a bench at a cafeteria table (yes, he said we should make the "up to 95 mile" drive even if it means working in the cafeteria) as others wander around, eating and talking. The ultimate open office space.

      So when a manager has to fire a direct report, it's a tough proposition... fire a warm body and possibly lose the spot outright, or let them hang in and keep your manpower up enough to keep your own job? They know these guys are borderline, but a big company is a machine unto itself.

      If they do fire anybody... it usually ends up being based solely on salary and location, based on what I saw this past week - they WFRed a bunch of guys who were responsible for millions of lines of good, solid code. Tested, true libraries that have run for ages in hundreds of thousands of PCs.... people tossed aside on a whim from on higher up than the managers they report to. Why? Because again, a big company is a machine unto itself... often the actions of execs and the upper management is pure quackery, because they can be just as clueless as anybody else in an organization; it's also a bit worse, because it's a club of privileged people who protect each other from personal failure, even at the expense of the companies they run.

    5. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      ... in severance packages. A hostile work environment will definitely reduce personnel.

      Of course the smart people who have no problem finding another job will leave first.

      Business casual is a "hostile work environment"?

    6. Re: It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Too bad we can't do the same with management. We'd probably find that the bum begging for your change at the entrance has a better business plan and better money management down than the whole useless VP combo.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    7. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by gweihir · · Score: 1

      I don't think Meg wants so save the company. Charley was just completely incompetent, but Meg strikes me as intentionally evil.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    8. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Business casual is a "hostile work environment"?

      To scientists and engineers, it is. And with good reason.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    9. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by maple_shaft · · Score: 1

      Layoffs are bad publicity. It hurts public image and raises eyebrows of investors.

    10. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She has simply copied it from what happened at DEC when Compaq took over. If your job could not be equated to that of someone building PC's then you could not be measured and were let go.
      It happened again when HP took over. all their best staff voted with their feet. One place demanded that all staff be in the office every day. That's ok but there were only desks for 75% of the staff. This is following some MBA guide on how to get rid of staff. It borders on constructive dismissial.

      HP are doomed. Rather sad really. They had so much potential. I worked there for 20 years.

    11. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is this even legal? Working on a cafeteria table definately gives many people back problems - they are not meant for all day use. Now, I live in socialist Europe and here that would not fly for a big company, but I would think it's a class action lawsuit waiting to happen even in US?

    12. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it's a "stealth layoff". some companies will even switch to "green environmental controls" aka "set the HVAC to 60F - 80F". so people find themselves driving for an hour+ to sit elbow to elbow in an 80F office. the most expensive (talented) will leave first, so you can show to the board the huge savings.

    13. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Letting someone go because they aren't productive enough to keep isn't a layoff, it's being fired.

    14. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pressed cargo pants and a collared button down shirt. Belt, sneakers and/or dress shoes. Functional, looks neat, no one should complain about sneakers in good repair if you're required to be on your feet for more than thirty seconds a day.

    15. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      All that remains are the employees who either lack the confidence in their skills to feel that they are employable elsewhere... or those employees who lack the skills.

      While I can certainly see how the first one would happen, if one actually lacks the skills to do their job, then shouldn't they have been fired already? Not being productive enough *is* a reason to let someone go.

      But they are sharp dressers.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    16. Re:It'll sure save HP money, just like Yahoo by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Relevance to my statement: none.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  15. That'll teach those engineers... by Karmashock · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... strutting around in their low cut shirts and bare midriffs... And do we really need to see your tramp stamps?

    In other news, Jerry that keeps showing up to work in his S&M gimp suit will switch to a more work appropriate polo shirt. Thanks for ruining it for everyone Jerry... you jackass.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    1. Re:That'll teach those engineers... by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 2

      ... strutting around in their low cut shirts and bare midriffs... And do we really need to see your tramp stamps?

      In other news, Jerry that keeps showing up to work in his S&M gimp suit will switch to a more work appropriate polo shirt. Thanks for ruining it for everyone Jerry... you jackass.

      No the guy in the gimp suit works in hr its the uniform

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    2. Re:That'll teach those engineers... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      What's your problem with Jerry? I don't really know how he gets his work done in a gimp suit ... and somehow I really don't WANT to know ... but why the fuck should I care as long as he DOES get his work done?

      Get your priorities straight!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:That'll teach those engineers... by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      Yeah and because he doing power point presentations while dressed in greased leather while mumbling through the zipper hole in his mask... I can't wear shorts.

      Fuck him.... With a donkey... right in his pussy.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    4. Re:That'll teach those engineers... by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      HR doesn't suck cock well enough to play slave... that would be marketing.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    5. Re:That'll teach those engineers... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      What has he done to deserve a reward?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:That'll teach those engineers... by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      I can't win... I say he gets burned by hot pokers and that's a reward... I say he gets the donkey dick and that's a reward too... I say he gets locked in a trunk and forgotten and that's a reward... I mean... I can't win.

      Rule 34, right...

      --
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  16. "sportsWARE"? by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 2

    I care about the quality of your hardware and software, not about what your engineers are wearing. Or, for the "anonymous reader" and the understandably anonymous Dice editors, "waring".

    1. Re:"sportsWARE"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It can't be written by Dice, I see no links with sneaky tracking IDs in them. It also mentions that HP works with technology, and I doubt Dice knows enough about technology to know this.

  17. It's evident that mgmt is running out of scapegoat by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 5, Insightful

    HP management is looking for scapegoat for their incompetence and has finally ran out of (other) scapegoats.

    A sure sign of a company in trouble is when assholes at the top begins to blame people at the bottom for all the failings. I expect to see a lot of people shorting HP soon..

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
  18. Fuck That. I'd leave. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Business casual clothing is uncomfortable and impractical. Tucking in a shirt restricts your movement and makes you sweat more easily. Leather shoes are uncomfortable unless they are the $400 kind or kind that become unwearable after 50 miles. All aspects of business attire make it difficult to do things like bend over to tie a shoe or run to catch a bus. My personal policy is that I just won't wear shoes that I couldn't walk 5 miles in without wanting to cut off my feet.

    Another personal policy is that if I'm wearing a button-up shirt and I sweat through the arm pits, I'm just going to take it off and reveal... a t-shirt.

    Comfort is paramount if all you do is sit in a box all day prodding a keyboard. What color shoes you have on or whether you are wearing jeans or slacks is irrelevant.

    Many of us are far enough along in our careers and good enough at what we do that we simply would not ever accept having to sit in discomfort for 8 hours per day.

    It is for this reason that companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc. do not give a shit whether their employees show up wearing sneakers and pony t-shirts to work. It simply does not matter. If you think it does, you are a lemming subscribing to an aesthetic standard that makes zero objective sense.

  19. HP died when Agilent was spun off by QuietLagoon · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The HP that was great became Agilent.

    .
    The divisions that were left behind when Agilent was spun off were Just Another Company, with nothing special to speak of.

    1. Re:HP died when Agilent was spun off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      But Agilent spun off Keysight Technologies, which was the real HP of way back when. Agilent only does Medical and Chemical analysis stuff, which are very recent in HP times.

    2. Re:HP died when Agilent was spun off by Moof123 · · Score: 3, Informative

      And Agilent has since split into two with Life Sciences taking the name, and the test and measurement relic being named Keysight (sounds like a rental company...).

      Bill and Dave would be ashamed of where their creation has gone.

    3. Re:HP died when Agilent was spun off by lurcher · · Score: 1

      I know engineers that work for Keysight, they are still proud of what Bill and Dave started. And they still make good kit.

    4. Re:HP died when Agilent was spun off by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      But Agilent spun off Keysight Technologies, which was the real HP of way back when

      Who obviously are engineers, for they have no sense of naming. Even though I was told Keysight Technologies is the new name for Agilent's test equipment, when I get an email from them, I can it because it sounds like some internet marketing firm selling SEO services.

      I probably went through 6 months of this before I started realizing what was happening. And I still can them because they really do sound like a marketing firm than a company making test equipment.

      Of course, they probably paid someone like $1M to come up with that name.

    5. Re:HP died when Agilent was spun off by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      I remember when that split happened, I was on a brief visit to HP in Böblingen that day when they went public with the split.

      My thought then "Are they brainfucked?".

      History reveals that - yes, they were then and haven't become better. No problems with the engineers at HP, they try to perform as well as they can given the conditions but the problem lies within marketing and product strategy - which are following management wishes.

      But in any large organization there's bound to grow a lot of dead meat between the layers - people that don't produce anything and just are overhead. But any attempt to cut them off means that they start to sabotage the process of restructuring and put up virtual obstacles everywhere to try to make themselves important.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  20. Basically, a way to get people to leave by melted · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Basically, a way to get people to leave, without going through the trouble of laying them off or providing severance. The often overlooked part of this is of course that good people leave first, and mouth breathers and managers of all sorts hang on for dear life since they are unemployable elsewhere.

    1. Re:Basically, a way to get people to leave by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This.

    2. Re:Basically, a way to get people to leave by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fucking nose-whistling loud breathers. We do not want to listen to you breathe. Eat shit and die you self-important fuck.

  21. Is it a change or a return to form? by taxman_10m · · Score: 1

    The company may have been founded in a garage, but it didn't stay there. What was HP like when it got out of garage? Did HP really have a reputation for people dressing like slobs? I'd suspect that people generally dressed ok and didn't need to be told how to dress for work.

    1. Re:Is it a change or a return to form? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Why does it matter? As long as it's clean (and I mean the clothing AND the person inside it!), I couldn't care less how my staff is dressed.

      Stuff a tech into a three piece suit and you can watch productivity plummet.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Is it a change or a return to form? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stuff a tech into a three piece suit and you can watch productivity plummet.

      If you want to buy me a tailored suit for each day of the week, we might have a deal. Plus one extra, just in case something happens to the other 6. (You still expect me to work Saturdays right?)

  22. Re:It's evident that mgmt is running out of scapeg by alvinrod · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Perhaps they're also looking for ways to annoy enough people into quitting so that they don't have the pay out any severance when the next round of layoffs starts. This seems like something that would push a few people over the edge, though I suspect it might be some of their better workers. Then again, the current suit only cares long enough to hit some bonuses based on poorly chosen metrics in order to cash out with a golden parachute while the company collapses.

  23. Sound pretty stupid by aepervius · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Normally you reserve good attire when there is client contact. Having formal attire for technician and engineer when there is no client contact is contra productive, you force people into a certain fashion which they might be uncomfortable with, for no good reason. That is a sure sign a hierarchy has lost sight of what is essential , and instead concentrate on rules which makes no sense , as to show they are doing "something". I expect no good future strategy from them from now onward.

    --
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    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:Sound pretty stupid by thegarbz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      We once had a plant manager who enforced a strict professional attire for all. He got everyone in the company to wear shirt and tie even when they had to wear safety overalls over the top.

      That all changed one day when he was visiting the workshop and got his tie stuck on a piece of rotating equipment (drill press as the story went). After nearly losing his head in the literal sense the dress code was relaxed leaving everyone scratching their heads wondering why a chemical plant with no customer facing positions had a dress code to begin with.

    2. Re:Sound pretty stupid by hambone142 · · Score: 1

      You are correct. Sometimes, this engineer had to crawl around under test benches to repair stuff or run cables, etc.

      I knew when we visited Taiwan businessmen, they'd wear suits so I wore one. Then after we got to know them, we called a "dress code truce" and went back to wearing comfortable clothes. Similarly, when I went on customer visits, I showed respect and didn't wear my shorts.

      Other than that, I pretty-much wore what I wanted unless it would cause a safety issue (hot drips of solder, acids and the likes).

    3. Re:Sound pretty stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Casual wear isn't formal wear. If you have to change the terms to make your point, you have no point.

    4. Re:Sound pretty stupid by gzuckier · · Score: 1

      We once had a plant manager who enforced a strict professional attire for all. He got everyone in the company to wear shirt and tie even when they had to wear safety overalls over the top.

      That all changed one day when he was visiting the workshop and got his tie stuck on a piece of rotating equipment (drill press as the story went). After nearly losing his head in the literal sense the dress code was relaxed leaving everyone scratching their heads wondering why a chemical plant with no customer facing positions had a dress code to begin with.

      tangentially, that nice tie your doctor wears when he comes in to your hospital room to examine you; saturated with infectious organisms.

      --
      Star Trek transporters are just 3d printers.
    5. Re:Sound pretty stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I suspect that plant manager has violated a criminal code. That's recklessly and unjustifiably negligent.

  24. Let me see if I have the meeting right by IWantMoreSpamPlease · · Score: 3, Funny

    Picture this at a management meeting:

    "Our stock is at an all-time low, profits are down, moral is gone, all our good engineers have left. What are we gonna do?"

    "I know! We'll ban casual dress, that'll solve the issues."

    (Boss) "That's brilliant! Raises for everyone!"

    __

    Something like that perhaps? H and P must be spinning in their graves...

    --
    So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
    1. Re:Let me see if I have the meeting right by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's something I never really understood. And it seems to be something that is actually pretty much an US thing. I don't see the same clinging to dress codes over here in Europe.

      How the heck can it be important how someone dresses who is in no contact with customers? I can see the necessity of "professional" dressing when one has to do with customers. That's a given. You need to follow the rites of the human tribe. Dressing up in a similar way as the one you get into contact with makes him identify you as "one of his kind" and causes him to like you. He looks like me, so he's one of my tribe. That's deep in our ancestor's brain. That's why three piece suits are pretty much a necessity in management meetings because managers look at you and identify you as one of them if you're in the same three piece junk.

      It's also, btw, the reason why techs don't like managers and why any tech dressing up as a manager immediately loses support with his peers. He's no longer "one of us". He's "one of them" now.

      And no, I don't digress, actually, that's exactly the problem these things create. Because "business dress code" identifies a tech as "not one of us anymore". We not only don't want to wear that junk, we also don't like people wearing it. If anything, it alienates people.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Let me see if I have the meeting right by sjames · · Score: 2

      That's why calling someone a 'suit' is not a complement.

    3. Re:Let me see if I have the meeting right by bazorg · · Score: 1

      It's something I never really understood. And it seems to be something that is actually pretty much an US thing. I don't see the same clinging to dress codes over here in Europe.

      Interestingly, in the 3 different european countries where I've worked there's always been an employment contract clause about standard of attire. In some places it's loosely enforced, but if it's in the contract, people need to intelligent enough not to get themselves into trouble by looking and making the company look bad.

      I think that overall in this thread there's an exaggeration about looking professional meaning there's less time to do the real work. A quick images search for Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard and their "humble garage" shows people dressed neatly for work.

      If people need more specifics to get with the brief, I'd say that in my experience Dockers-like trousers and a plain shirt (long or short sleeve) always look right, as long as the clothes are clean. The company-issued tie seems to be a specific to manufacturing companies I've visited thus far. I find it funny (in a good way) to see everyone wearing the same tie, funny in the other way when my consultant turns up with the Looney Tunes tie.

    4. Re:Let me see if I have the meeting right by freeze128 · · Score: 1

      You're missing the point. The improved dress code is not to impress your customers, it's to impress your INVESTORS. If HP is doing as badly as everyone says, then it might make sense that upper management may want to sell the company. Often, this means a prospective buyer taking a tour of your office. If everyone is dressed like a slob, then they would be willing to pay less for the company.

    5. Re:Let me see if I have the meeting right by andrewbaldwin · · Score: 1

      Interestingly, my company has (had?) a dress code.

      On **every one of** the occasions when I have been working at a customer's site [in a number of companies and countries], side by side with key decision makers, I have been in casual clothes.

      At one site I was advised to "get rid of the tie" immediately and, if possible, go and change at lunchtime -- this from a well known Fortune 500 company.

      Seems there is a self fuelling circle of believing what is needed causing behaviour which sets expectations which reinforces belief.

      For what it's worth, as a customer I'm more concerned about the quality of work done that the quality of tailoring on the people -- I can easily put an expensive suit on a dummy; putting a good brain into a sharp dresser is somewhat more challenging.

    6. Re:Let me see if I have the meeting right by andrewbaldwin · · Score: 1

      At one site I was advised to "get rid of the tie" immediately and, if possible, go and change at lunchtime

      D'oh -- text was dropped - was OK when I hit submit

      Should have said

      At one site when I arrived in a suit I was advised to "get rid of the tie" immediately and, if possible, go and change into more casual clothes at lunchtime

    7. Re:Let me see if I have the meeting right by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      If you buy a company by the way the employees dress, you get what you deserve.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    8. Re:Let me see if I have the meeting right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmm.. maybe the dress code is a good thing then.

      If everyone is wearing a 3-piece suit in your example, then the engineers and executives will see each other as part of the same "tribe" as you say. Might cut down on animosity between the two groups.

    9. Re:Let me see if I have the meeting right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "compliment", you doofus.

  25. Beatings Continue Morale Improves by pipingguy · · Score: 1

    Expect more of this as automation and offshoring eliminates more so-called (and often already non-productive) white collar jobs. Employers will place more and more conditions on those remaining.

  26. Re:shorts by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Interesting

    as long as shorts are banned

    At my company, we require shorts and tank tops during the summer months. If you violate the dress code by wearing long pants or sleeves, then you are not allowed to complain about the AC temperature setting. It is currently set to 78F (26C).

  27. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Abandon stock. Sell, sell, sell. All not-totally-worthless employees should fire their resume cannons with full spread to competitors. This venerable giant is going down with all collar shirts tucked in.

  28. How shit like this starts by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would wager that what happened was some executive who thinks he or she is too high and mighty to do something like... notify anybody AT ALL that they're bringing important people through... decided to talk up how professional and awesome their employees are and then bring them through, only to catch the overweight bearded guy wearing sandals in the middle of eating a messy burger. Of course the problem is that the guy was wearing sandals!

    I've witnessed this multiple times. One executive told me about how he never knows in advance when investors are coming through. I asked if they just walk up and down our street and randomly poke their head into our place. The answer to that question was a suggestion that I should update my resume.

    --

    "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    1. Re:How shit like this starts by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I would have answered that this advice is superfluous, I don't think I want to work for someone who doesn't know when his investors pop in. Investors are important people and a sensibly boss should certainly know TO THE SECOND when these people show up.

      I can't work for a boss who isn't organized.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:How shit like this starts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wear sandals, every day (in summer). As a dev on wall st. I don't come in contact with anyone outside the company unless they bring me into a meeting with vendors. So far, folks have hinted that I "must be very comfortable" and... well... yah, I am, very comfortable indeed. Dress code is for folks whose job depends on appearances---if your job is to do stuff, and you do that stuff perfectly well... only an idiot boss would poke you for not dressing up.

    3. Re:How shit like this starts by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      I think it's clear what I thought of my boss at the time. What you overlook, however, is that you did not always have the luxury of being picky about who your boss was. I mention that now so you understand that despite where you are at now at life, you have younglings that would benefit from your support right now.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    4. Re:How shit like this starts by bitingduck · · Score: 1

      Years ago I worked in the lab in a small company that addressed that very easily - we just put everybody in the lab in lab coats. Once you put on the lab coat, it doesn't really matter what you're wearing as long as you have closed toed shoes (which we had anyway). The type of lab work we were requiring didn't really need lab coats, but they also weren't particularly inconvenient or uncomfortable, either.

      Where I am now, I can pretty much wear plain t-shirts and jeans every day, and shorts when it's warm, but I keep jeans around in case I have to go into a smock-only cleanroom (you have to have long pants, or else find a full bunny suit).

    5. Re:How shit like this starts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why did "overweight" and "bearded" get added to the description of somebody you are clearly trying to paint as unprofessional?

      I guess all overweight people are unprofessional? And all people with beards?

      You're just a fuck-wit is all I guess.
       

    6. Re:How shit like this starts by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      You should re-read my post. What I said and what you read are two different things.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    7. Re:How shit like this starts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, I read it just fine. You characterized the guy who was an embarrassment to the executive as:

      1) overweight
      2) bearded
      3) wearing sandals
      4) eating a messy burger

      and sarcastically said that wearing sandals was the problem, implying that it was the least of the problems. So that only leaves your denigration of overweight and/or bearded people and/or people who eat (and of course greasy burger was just meant to further denigrate the weight of the example person) as what embarrassed the executive.

    8. Re:How shit like this starts by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      Why didn't you read the first line? Everyone else, did.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    9. Re:How shit like this starts by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      Sorry to reply to myself, but I want to ask just one question: Do you think the point I was making was that the executive should have called ahead so the engineer could lose 130lbs during the elevator ride?

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  29. What a joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I can't come in to work wearing my running shoes, sweats and a plain black t-shirt I won't work there.

  30. Their lawns must look fantastic by mark-t · · Score: 2

    Apparently dressing well improves the holistic ambiance of a brain struggling with esoteric things like coding.

    With fertilizer like that, I'm sure their lawns are looking great in spite of the drought. On a scale of 1 to 10 on the shittitude meter, that's probably like a 12 or 13.

  31. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, we have desks and tables hiding such nasty things.

  32. There is a point to this by laurencetux · · Score: 1

    On the ladies side i would not want to know which of JCPenny Macys or Victorias Secret is used for their Underthings (unless i was perhaps buying for one of them).

    And on the mens side there are some very nice Polos sold at ThinkGeek.

    Heck as long as they are not including things like Women MUST be wearing a skirt (or dress with a skirt) with a hem no shorter than knee length then i would say sure go for it.

    1. Re:There is a point to this by hambone142 · · Score: 1

      What about tattoos?

      We had an engineer that had one of those "broccoli beef" tattoos on her.

      Should it be covered? It does say a lot about the person, ya know.

    2. Re:There is a point to this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At first I didn't know what you were referring to. Then I did a GIS and remembered all the stuff I saw years ago on hanzismatter (and it seems he still posts about one a week). Should it be covered? Only if she doesn't want to be thought of as an idiot. It really should be lasered.

  33. Skirts are okay. by CyberSnyder · · Score: 1

    I'd probably wear a nice, not short skirt because that would be against the rules, but a nice mid length skirt.

    1. Re:Skirts are okay. by dskoll · · Score: 1

      Very comfy in summer. I wear them pretty much all the time in hot weather.

    2. Re:Skirts are okay. by bobstreo · · Score: 2

      I'd probably wear a nice, not short skirt because that would be against the rules, but a nice mid length skirt.

      Do you want kilts? Because that's how we get kilts.

    3. Re: Skirts are okay. by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1
      Easy way to short circuit this - it's possible to follow their dress code and still look slutty. They want tops with collars? Fine - just don't button thrm up. Curve-accentuating jeans, shoes with clear acrylic heels (the ones worn b Trisha Heffer in Battlestar Galactica were originally obtained for $20 from Walmart). Purple or pink hair, etc. And guys, sporting bed hair all day, every day, should get your ball caps back. And get your kilts - and stay authentic - no tidy-whities.

      Some rules are just begging to be broken in specific circumstances.

      --
      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    4. Re:Skirts are okay. by Pubstar · · Score: 2

      Don't hate on Kilts.

    5. Re: Skirts are okay. by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      And guys, sporting bed hair all day, every day, should get your ball caps back.

      No need. Just wear your ballcap like you do normally anyway, and then take it off when you enter work. Hat hair is even worse than bed hair.

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    6. Re:Skirts are okay. by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      Yeah, if my workplace had a dress code I would definitely show up in a skirt during the summer. Also sandals. Cute strappy ones, even if I had to have them custom made in a size 12 mens.

  34. Re:Dress codes are for cows. by mark-t · · Score: 1

    I'd argue that the above comment might rank as one of the most insightful observations about this situation that a layperson could reasonably expect to make.

  35. Right... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because nothing says "we take our business seriously" in tech like dress codes.

  36. Business Casual In The 90s by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Guys had to look decent press a pair of khakis every morning while women in my office walked in every day sporting the "business frumpy" look in overdyed jeans, black or navy.

    This is going to open some old wounds.

  37. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    25 is a bit more agreeable, you don't smell the moldy filters as much

    Posting AC for obvious reasons! Get it?

  38. Meh by mordred99 · · Score: 4, Informative

    First off the article linked was poorly written. It is only their professional services arm that has these new restrictions. R&D does not. Secondly who cares? I prefer business casual over some of the other forms of outfits that you can wear. Yes I can wear sneakers (trainers) and they might be very comfortable, but I buy an $80 pair of shoes, wear them every day, and they last 5 years. That is not all that expensive. Khaki's are lighter than Denim Jeans .. so I prefer them. Hey, less ball sweat. $40 a pair (you need five). I have light button down shirts that I wear over my under shirt and have never had a problem of being hot, or feeling constrained. Again, spend $40 on each shirt and you will only have to replace them if you get fat (or skinny) or after like 5 years. So lets see. $500 for 5 years worth of NICE clothes you can wear anywhere (church, wedding, christmas dinner, etc.) and you are more comfortable than when you wear jeans and a polo.

    Of course this is all subjective. My current job allows people to wear jeans instead of Khaki's. I told my boss that I will never wear jeans, but if he lets me wear shorts that will be a different story. I would prefer to wear shorts and a t-shirt, but it is work. Seriously. If you are customer facing, it is not hard to look nice and professional. If you are a back room guy - Who cares.

    1. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This fashion advice was brought to you by mordred99, frequent Slashdot contributor.

    2. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've never had a pair of khakis last anywhere near as long as a pair of jeans, plus jeans are more dirt resistant (a bit of dirt just brushes off while khakis need to be washed) and don't get stained or torn so damn easily. Rarely can I get two years out of a pair of khakis before they get ruined in some way.

    3. Re:Meh by Xiaran · · Score: 1

      Where the fuck do you live where Khakis are somehow above jeans?

    4. Re:Meh by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I started buying 5.11 tactical pants made out of lightweight, stretchy nylon with a Teflon finish. They look like business casual pants but move like pajamas, and anything you spill on them rolls or wipes off. I don't think I've worn any other kinds of pants to work since I bought my first pair.

      --
      Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
    5. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about everyone just does what works for them? Don't like jeans? Fine with me if you don't wear them. Ban my jeans? Screw you!

    6. Re: Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's just HP ES, formerly EDS, that are required to dress like that. I am also guessing it's just the customer facing team.

      I work on professional services on another division and have not received any email like that. But we are professional services and should always wear something professional, when facing customers.

      Unfortunately, EDS always had to deal with this kind of BS, it started long before they were acquired and that mentality is not going anywhere.

    7. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anywhere I've ever been in the United States would be one example.

    8. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The article expressly mentions R&D four times. If what you are saying is true, then the article is not poorly written; it is just plain wrong.

    9. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no, they don't look like business casual pants. at all.

    10. Re:Meh by Kjella · · Score: 1

      First off the article linked was poorly written. It is only their professional services arm that has these new restrictions. R&D does not. Secondly who cares?

      Try wearing a business attire and tell a tech person what to do. Then wear a tech attire and tell a business person what to do. I've worked both sides of the fence as a consultant and if you don't show you understand the relevant dress code nobody will take you seriously.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    11. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dorito dust and Mountain Dew stains?

    12. Re:Meh by tompaulco · · Score: 1

      $500 for 5 years worth of NICE clothes you can wear anywhere (church, wedding, christmas dinner, etc.) and you are more comfortable than when you wear jeans and a polo.

      Very nice research. So does HP pay exactly $500 bonus for this changover, or will they pad it a little and pay everyone $1,000, to help the pill go down a little smoother? Or are they going to go the cheap route and just buy everybody the clothes they want them to wear?

      --
      If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
    13. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless you are woman, in which case, it costs $1000 to buy the same stuff.

    14. Re:Meh by Nite_Hawk · · Score: 1

      Then try wearing tech attire and ask a tech person how they would accomplish a goal rather than telling them what to do. Youd be surprised.

    15. Re: Meh by Megane · · Score: 1

      It's just HP ES, formerly EDS, that are required to dress like that. I am also guessing it's just the customer facing team.

      If this is true, you needed to be modded up. EDS is the IT services company that was started by H. Ross Perot, and if they're only asking it for the customer-facing people, then why the fuck hasn't it already been in place for years?

      But TFA says "R&D", which doesn't sound like the kind of stuff I would expect from the EDS folks.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    16. Re:Meh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Swish swish swish. Nylon cargos just aren't as durable. Cotton is the way to go, and it's quieter. I'll try not to spill coffee on my not-fully-articulated crotch.

  39. Fixed. by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 2

    For those of you following along at home, they've corrected "sportsware" to "sportswear" in the summary. I guess someone does read the snarky comments.

  40. Re:Dress codes are for cows. by CAOgdin · · Score: 1

    Mark-T: As a long-term consultant to HP (pre-Carly), I have to say yours is the as insightful as the post you reference. Well done!

  41. Posters around work? by l0n3s0m3phr34k · · Score: 1

    Almost all the posters around our building are people in three piece suits. Some people wear track suit pants to work. However, we're not R&D, and no customers ever come to our site. Well, our "customers" are big airlines, and the building itself is on airport property, so those "customers" are always close by. But you need multiple badges and PIN codes to actually get into the Enterprise Command Center. It's also always super cold in there, so no one wears shorts.

    But what no one here notices is that this is all about the coming sell-off of HPE. They poured millions into our building, and we never have customers come in there. Enforcing this dress code is another sign. The fact that Whitman will get $91 million if we're acquired is a HUGE RED FLAG. However, this might not be a bad thing if it's not IBM or some other "we outsource everyone" company. We're homing like EMC, maybe even SABRE.

  42. Clever move by management by JoeyRox · · Score: 2

    That way you can't tell who's incompetent by just looking at who's dressed up anymore.

  43. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some delicate pansies faint at the sight of blood, but you faint at the sight of knees? Man up, nancy.

  44. Hygiene clothing choices by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd prefer my colleagues to shower over wearing clothes I think look best on them.

    I've had well dressed and even clean-shaven colleagues who did not appear to use a shower. I can look the other direction if I think you're unpleasant to look at, but do I have to clamp my nose shut whenever I have to share the room?

    Also: smokers. You bring that stench with you when you come back inside. Please quit.

    To paraphrase Agent Smith: "I can't stand them. It's the smell."

  45. My experience dressing down at a business meeting: by tlambert · · Score: 1

    My experience dressing down at a business meeting:

    I was one of three technical persons presenting to the customer. I didn't go first, so there was no initialization bias. Everyone was in business casual, but me; I was wearing khaki pants, but I was also wearing my "turtle" Hawaiian shirt I had picked up in St. Croix on recent vacation. Anytime the customers had a technical question, even when someone else was presenting, they asked it, and then looked at me to answer the question.

    Dressing down at a business meeting means one of two things:

    (1) They are the customer in the room; if you are there for a customer meeting, and it's not technical, then the person dressed down is the actual customer. Forget the guys in the suits, they are not the customer. They will ask questions, but the answers will ultimately be judged by the decision maker. The person who looks like they just stepped off the golf course or off the windsurfer? She or he is the decision maker. This is emphasized if the meeting doesn't start until they arrive.

    (2) They are the technical talent; they don't dress up, because they don't have to. If you want a technical question answered, they are the person who will give you the answer that's going to stick. If they follow up someones else's answer with a "Well...", you'd better listen.

    We all have our uniforms.

    P.S.: Highly technical fields require that you forget everything but the intellectual problem in front of you; you can't do that to the same depth, if your collar is constrictive, or you can't otherwise ignore your physicality. It's the clothing equivalent of working in an Open Plan Office: the distractions detract from the work product.

  46. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gosh, never go above 20.5 degrees to keep the smell comfortable.

  47. WTB pre-dress code pics by dave562 · · Score: 1

    Short skirts and low cut dresses? Freakin' sweet!

    1. Re:WTB pre-dress code pics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been in that office and it sound great until you actually see the folks wearing those outfits -- then the brain bleach comes in handy. Imaging someone 3x to 4x your weight wearing an extremely short & tight skirt and a mostly unbuttoned top...

  48. Thankfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... short skirts, low cut dresses ..

    Wait a minute; this allows women to still wear those 'panties with pockets' shorts, which are far more revealing than short skirts.

    So us men can still wear tight singlets and footy shorts? Yeah, like men are allowed to wear revealing clothes at work.

    1. Re:Thankfully by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As long as I can continue to wear my cod piece, I'm fine with it.

    2. Re:Thankfully by tlambert · · Score: 1

      As long as I can continue to wear my cod piece, I'm fine with it.

      (1) Do it under layers and layers and layers and layers. And have a cod.

  49. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are worse things to be seen hanging out of a pair of shorts.

  50. Re:Fuck That. I'd leave. by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

    You got to pry the ESD slippers from my cold dead feet before I wear anything but them indoors.

    At least I can use ESD safe footwear as an excuse for wearing slippers.

    --
    If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
  51. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  52. Re:It's evident that mgmt is running out of scapeg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I'm afraid you are correct. HP used to be a very good company. I competed and then supplied them for over 40 years of my professional life. They did some very good Stuff. But Meg was given a pile of crap from the likes of Carly. The bonus for managers that turned it all into permission to be abusive and arrogant. The staff, some of whom, I really respected have left. (Some AHoles have left too.. but that is another issue.)

    Acts like these will annoy the good people as much as the so=so people. .. but on a 20% vs. 80%.. the hit on the top line of 20% will be massive. The management within HP is NOT good enough to manage through the constant downsizing, redirection, and ambiguity that an HP employee has to now manage his professional life by. Because as Meg and Carly have shown.. they are just human capital that has no balance sheet impact when it is destroyed.

  53. bfd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yea boo hoo. Literally everyone in the professional world is forced to wear these stupid button up shirts and dress up pants. Welcome to reality.

    Do I enjoy sitting at my cubicle wearing uncomfortable ass clothes on weekdays? No I do not. And I;ve resorted to wearing jeans 3 of the 4 long days a week I work. Screw the man.

  54. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is currently set to 78F (26C).

    Theory of mind. I've come to understand that people are different. Something that might be a mild annoyance for one person can be severely unpleasant or even dangerous for someone else. The older I get the more I favor a work environment that carefully chooses a boring middle ground.

    Sure, most people will be fine with a workplace temperature that's a bit too hot or a bit too cold. But I'm not omniscient. I can't be sure that there isn't someone with slightly unusual physiology (perhaps even as a result of their genetics) or perhaps some other medical condition (e.g. a skin condition that is made worse with constant sweating) where a workplace temperature outside the normal range will be severely unpleasant or even damaging to their health.

    That's not to say that work shouldn't be meaningful. But work should be about work. A lot of employees need their jobs in order to feed their families. Subjecting certain vulnerable employees to an unnecessarily unpleasant or dangerous work environments to satisfy your own personal whims is at best callous - if not downright sadistic.

  55. Re:shorts by Snufu · · Score: 2

    You don't have to tell us, we can smell your company through our displays.

  56. Poke a fork in them. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They're done.

  57. Re:It's evident that mgmt is running out of scapeg by mikelieman · · Score: 1

    Soon? Seriously, when they stopped making lab gear, it was Game Over.

    --
    Technology -- No Place For Wimps! Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Chatroom -- http://www.wemissjerry.org
  58. This is exactly why I don't work extra hours by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I am forced to wear clothes that aren't comfortable even when I am an engineer in the back room with no interface with the public, then I don't feel the need to stick around for extra hours of work. I can't wait to take off uncomfortable clothes when I get home. Their right. Their loss.

  59. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My place of work not only does this, but they shut off the heat/AC at 6pm, then turn it back on at about 6:30am, and off all the time on the weekends. They ignore the fact that some offices get to over 100F on the weekends due to East/West facing windows.

  60. Re:Fuck That. I'd leave. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well aren't you just a delicate little teacup.

  61. A bit more detail by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I work for HP in RnD; I haven't gotten this memo. Reading the fine article and giving some of my (anonymous) experience however....

    1) This seems to apply to only the services organization. That is, the digested remains of EDS. That arm of the company was bought originally because it had serious problems and hence could be acquired cheap and then fixed up. This is just yet another step in fixing it up (although, dress code doesn't seem that important; perhaps there are some serious professionalism issues in some parts?). There's also (I see reported in the news) yet more layoffs coming in that division; the rest of the company yawns when that is announced.

    Per dress codes....

    2) We had an "important visitor" this week.... so I dressed up a bit. I made sure that I had a clean pair of jeans, and wore a button-down dress shirt. With the buttons undone, my sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and I'm not 100% sure my tennis shoes didn't have holes, but I didn't wear the falling-apart pair. It was hot this week so I slacked on the dress shirt for some of the days, but I made sure it was a solid-color t-shirt without any logo or graphics. Not one fuck was given about how I dressed; I calibrated my dress to the level of importance, and it was fine.

    3) There was only 1 case I know of regarding someone getting flack for under-dressing. One co-worker was told in the peer-review (and I was one of the people who told him this) that you should make sure that your t-shirt doesn't have massive holes when you know you're going to present in front of C-suite executives. We didn't say that t-shirts were verboten... just to please make sure that they're not in tatters. He bought a few polo shirts and a chucked the most "holiest" of his previous ones, and everything continued on just fine.

    3) Previously my manager would regularly come in to work dressed much more shabbily than me. Seeing him wander around barefoot (not just sandals, but flat-out barefoot) in raggy shorts with a tie-died t-shirt wasn't uncommon. You could always tell if there was a customer visit, though; he'd be sporting khakis and a polo then. If he looked like a beach-bum, you knew that there weren't any customers around.

    4) One day my manager got promoted to director level, and his biggest complaint was that he had to buy a suit. That is, although for day-to-day anything went, if we were meeting a customer, everyone knew we had to dress the part. A director had to wear a suit to certain meetings; so he sucked it up and got one. One of the other directors didn't like dressing up so much, but kept a suit in his cube just in case--he could have a t-shirt and jeans on most of the time, and if needed it took him 10 minutes to slip into the more formal clothes.

    EDS (aka HP Services) has issues; the rest of the company is sensible. Show up in inappropriate clothes for the task at hand, and you'll get a polite suggestion that maybe you should up your wardrobe. Show up dressed like a homeless person when there aren't any big-wigs around, and nobody really cares.

    1. Re:A bit more detail by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Interesting. Apparently, this is yet another case of a "journalist" spicing up the story, only to lose its relevance and accuracy completely.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  62. Common sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think a company should have some dress standards. Don't wear pajamas to work. Don't wear clothing that's too revealing, ragged and torn, or stinky dirty. But a rule that a men can't dress like a woman can lead to all sorts of lawsuits.

    But aside from common-sense rules, casual dressing in short pants is fine. People who come into the company will know that IT people tend to dress casually, so they won't be shocked to see casual clothing.

    Once I interviewed at Apple, and the manager who interviewed me was wearing short pants. (No, I didn't get the job.) And in this video, Steve Jobs is wearing short pants while he's making a short speech to Apple managers.

  63. Re:shorts by thegarbz · · Score: 2

    Would it help if we shaved, and do you only hate male knees? What about unshaven female calves?
    While we're at it can we enforce a strict BMI rule at the work place? I've never seen a fat person I prefer not to see.
    Oh also brunets; Everyone should be blonde and blue eyed.

  64. WWCD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What Would Carli Do? She'd dress sharp, of course...

  65. Wow, that dress thing is still an issue in the US? by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, technically we do have a dress code. You are required to wear pants. Or skirts if you prefer. And it is mandatory to wear it in such a way that it covers your genitals and buttocks. You are encouraged to wear something covering your torso. It would be nice if this had at least something that could resemble sleeves, however short they may be. And shoes would be encouraged but more out of comfort than necessity.

    It is a bit more strict if you're in direct contact with the customer, granted. And no, we're not some hip little start up. We're a medium sized bank with a few centuries of tradition behind it and a rather conservative customer stock. But we're IT security. We don't get into contact with the customer. Why the fuck should we give a shit how someone dresses as long as it's clean and doesn't show me some part of his/her anatomy that should better stay concealed?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  66. Re:shorts by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This makes me laugh.

    Years ago, I worked for a company in Mesa, Arizona. It's damned hot in that area, especially in the summer.

    When the company tackled the thorny issue of dress codes, they wanted a unisex dress code--no double standards. The dress code ended up being, "You must be covered from shoulders to a little above the knee in clothing of good repair." Open toed shoes were okay, but no flip-flops.

    That was it. No ripped jeans. No tube tops or spaghetti straps.

    That said, there were some people who could just not handle hairy men's legs and, I'm told, argued vehemently against men wearing shorts. The head of HR basically said that whatever standards are there for women should also be there for men. If you want to wear skirts, you need to let men show their legs, too.

    There were two other interesting things they did. One, they hung a sign in the lobby that said "This company supports a casual dress code." So you wouldn't wonder why people were wandering around in shorts. The other rule was that there were times--maybe once or twice a year--when it might be necessary to, shall we say, "dress to impress." When this happened, you would be notified by your manager--and it was up to your manager to do this and verify that you got the message--more than 24 hours before this would happen. If you were not notified and showed up dressed unimpressively, your manager was the one who caught the heat.

  67. Re:My experience dressing down at a business meeti by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I learned two important lessons from one of my former bosses concerning dressing:

    First: If you meet with a group of people, the least well dressed person is the one you're looking out for. It's either the tech or the decision maker. And both of them are important to you. The decision maker for obvious reasons, and the tech because he'll be the one asking the important questions and his reaction to your answers is also the important one, because he will later translate your answer to the managers. They can nod, ahh and ohh all they want to your answer, they don't understand it. It's the tech that will understand it and what he later conveys to his managers is what makes or breaks your contract. So that is the one person you need to convince.

    And second, never trust a tech in a suit. Never. If you're in a customer meeting with someone who is allegedly a tech and he comes in dressed up like a manager, there's two possible reasons: First, he's not a tech but a sales goon who has been briefed by their tech, and he has been sent 'cause they fear their tech would tell us more truth about the product than they want him to. Or he is a tech and was forced to dress up to distract from the product being not able to stand on its own. If something needs a dolled up clown to sell it, it's not worth buying it.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  68. I've read it the other way. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought they were enforcing the use of T-shirts -- you know, as a way to avoid someone requiring formal clothing.

    And I thought: "wow, it's 2015 and they the memo now?" Sadly, they didn't get the memo. Maybe when the aliens land on Earth in search of cosmic peace, we'll have to explain why that particular group of humans dress all alike.

  69. Skirts vs Shorts by xyzzyman · · Score: 1

    You can wear a knee length skirt even if you're a man, but a pair of knee length shorts is against the rules. That will never make sense to me how obviously sexist that is yet HR sees no issue with it.

  70. Return of EDS, in effect? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is how EDS was before HP bought, then gutted, them. Good for them to return to some semblance of professionalism.

  71. Re:Fuck That. I'd leave. by Pubstar · · Score: 1

    Leather shoes are uncomfortable unless they are the $400 kind or kind that become unwearable after 50 miles.

    You need to learn to shop for shoes. I got a pair of Bass slip-on dress shoes for $60. Had them for about a year now, and they are still super comfortable and have no problems with the soles or anything else (like some of the other cheap brands I bought did).

  72. Re:shorts by Spamalope · · Score: 1

    Our office does that too. I moved the remote temp/humidity sensor monitor for the UPS system into my office for a month in the summer. My desktop reach 125F one weekend, 130F+ two weekends and over 140F the hottest weekend. Everything with an electrolytic cap has had failure rates increase 2-400% due to the heat.

  73. Image over substance by hambone142 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    First of all, this fourth "wonder of the world" CEO needs to disassociate the name "HP" and "Hewlett-Packard" from the company. It's an insult to its founders.

    R&D is typically closed doors to the public and should be for I.P. purposes.

    If all the remains of HP has to tout in their R&D lab is how the engineers dress, that means there isn't much of substance to demonstrate the "wow effect" to outsiders. That says a lot about HP.

    HP has undergone 16 years of cost cutting (and counting) and their product quality shows the effects of that short term goal (so managers can get their bonuses).

    I will not buy another HP product. Frankly, their quality has become abysmal.

    1. Re:Image over substance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I.P." is not a purpose.

  74. Tuxedos at dawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I would work with anything related to Linux it would be tuxedo day every day for me. HP sauce is something every well dressed person should be aware, though.

  75. most unprofessional bunch of fucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i ever interviewed with. glad I dodged that bullet and never worked for that shithole HP.

  76. Explains the lack of innovation from HP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was wondering why I keep running into really smart folks that are former HP employees. All the smart ones got out - all that are left are those without eyes to see the decline, can't get a job elsewhere, or are over 45.

  77. Re:shorts by tompaulco · · Score: 1

    My place of work not only does this, but they shut off the heat/AC at 6pm, then turn it back on at about 6:30am, and off all the time on the weekends. They ignore the fact that some offices get to over 100F on the weekends due to East/West facing windows.

    Where I used to work, I had a west facing window. In the summer, the AC could never keep up , so it would be 72 when I came in, but by quitting time it would be 85 in there.
    It was worse in certain days in the spring and fall where it was reasonably warm outside in the afternoons, but they were still running the furnace. The furnace couldn't keep up either, so in the morning, it would be 55 degrees in the office, but by quitting time, it would be 85, because the furnace finally caught up and overcompensated.
    I finally stopped complaining and just put a large thermostat on the wall so that people could actually see the temperature. It never got fixed, but I don't work there anymore, so let the next guy deal with it.

    --
    If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
  78. Re:shorts by tompaulco · · Score: 1

    Remember back in the early '90s when women got to wear shorts to work by calling them skorts? It used to annoy me that I had to wear a dress shirt, tie, slacks and dress shoes while the women got to wear skorts, whatever top they wanted and comfortable shoes.

    --
    If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
  79. Re:Fuck That. I'd leave. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You got to pry the ESD slippers from my cold dead feet before I wear anything but them indoors.

    Challenge accepted. /reaches for LARGE pair of shears

  80. Re:It's evident that mgmt is running out of scapeg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The lab gear got spun off to Agilent, then the electronics test and measurement gear got spun off to Keysight.

  81. Re:shorts by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

    Siemens in Cheshire, Ct. did something like that.Once a year as the weather turned cold the warm air inside, still thick with water from the summer, would lose its water to the windows, and pools of water would end up on the windowsills. Anyone ignorant of the phenomenon (me) who left work documentation or books on the windowsills got important stuff damaged.

    --
    Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
  82. Perfect way to select for the mediocre by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anybody that's any good at all won't put up with this shit.

  83. Overalls by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I use overalls and a yellow t-shirt in the office, just like the rest of the minions.

  84. Re:shorts by ceoyoyo · · Score: 3, Funny

    While sweltering at an outdoor summer wedding wearing a jacket, pants and socks (!) I ended up in a conversation with a woman wearing some kind of sheer silk dress and sandals about how men don't understand the social pressure on women to appear a certain way. I told her I would love to wear what she was. She gave me this strange look and excused herself.

  85. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    America is a woman's cuntry

  86. Re:My experience dressing down at a business meeti by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "If something needs a dolled up clown to sell it, it's not worth buying it."

    That is the essence of advertising summed up in one sentence.

  87. Re:My experience dressing down at a business meeti by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    No, none of that is really true. You are just using selective bias to reinforce your own choices.

    There are brilliant people in suits and in T-shirts. Trying to discern which is which by their attire is a losing battle.

    Personally, I am a technologist who tries to maintain a professional appearance. I usually wear slacks and button down shirts. Why? Because traditionally people signal the importance of the task by what they wear. I might head to the gym in sweats, but I'm not going to wear them to a funeral or a wedding.

    The fact that I dress up for those events demonstrates that I care enough to put in some effort. Wearing some dirty, stained rags that I picked up off the floor indicates that I put no care, effort, or thought into an event that is tremendously important to others.

    Now, I realize that many techs dress down almost as a uniform to differentiate themselves from others. So, I pretty much give them a pass, but I'm never impressed by it.

    Here are a couple of guys in suits who I'm sure you think are clueless because they are wearing suits. I'm sure someone explained all that complicated technology stuff to them before the event. Too bad they couldn't find some competent techs to figure out why those people died.
    http://www.geoffwilkins.net/im...

  88. So what? Actually, this matters to me too.... by King_TJ · · Score: 2

    I don't think I ever showed up for a job wearing gym clothes. But jeans and comfortable short-sleeve polo type shirts, or even t-shirts in the summer months, and tennis-shoes? Definitely!

    At one of my previous jobs, they hired a new woman in the H.R. department, and all of a sudden she decided she was going to enforce new dress codes. The word was, I.T. and software developers would no longer be allowed to wear jeans. Thankfully, our best Java developer was an ex-hippie who viewed this as an opportunity to get the whole team together and fight for a cause again. Within about a month, H.R. retracted the policy change, agreeing that jeans in "presentable condition" were part of an acceptable business casual dress code for the company.

    Truthfully, I can't speak for the software devs. But as one of the support specialists - the ability to wear jeans and t-shirts was a huge benefit, as we were expected to crawl around on the floor to connect or disconnect cables and had to go out to an industrial shop floor regularly to swap out nasty, grimy old equipment or service it. It just didn't make sense to wear clothing you'd have to pay to get dry cleaned, or even khaki pants that would get torn too easily.

    Even at my current job, I consider it a big perk of the job that they're pretty casual with the dress code. I don't own a lot of more formal clothing, so I'd have to lay out a lot of money to build my wardrobe of that stuff up again. And I'd pretty much never wear it except for the job requiring it -- so in that sense, I may as well be buying my own uniforms or something.

    I will say, there are always people out there who don't seem to have any sense of what's appropriate to wear into a workplace. Especially in some of the help-desk environments I've seen, you've got people dressing like they're going out to a nightclub instead of to do technical support. And no, I don't think it's professional to wear beat up, raggedy clothes either. If you work I.T., I think t-shirts with advertising logos related to your industry are perfectly acceptable. (If you have that Microsoft, Intel Inside, Apple or HP promotional t-shirt - great.) But one advertising your favorite alcoholic beverage? Probably best to leave that at home.

  89. Re: shorts by mah! · · Score: 1

    It' funny (but it's slashdot after all) how a comment ends up being exaggerated with wild misinterpretations such as "hate", "fainting", ... almost like in a Bernd episode: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=... Funny also how so many people don't realize that men wearing shorts are simply considered as in poor taste - in most of the world (but don't talk about that on /. -- the world outside anglophone countries may be too complex a concept to consider). Not to mention the even funnier idea that would have an average pair of shorts being any better for warm weather than summer/light cotton calanques-style pants.

  90. re: client contact by King_TJ · · Score: 1

    For that matter? I'd venture to say that even for client facing employees, dress code/attire has too much emphasis placed on it in many cases.

    For a long time, I knew a lot of really good, bright people in I.T. who avoided or distrusted any salesperson approaching them in a suit and tie. They knew that you could basically pull any warm body off the street, dress them up like that, and put them out there to try to sell you something. The people with real knowledge about the products or services were more likely not to be forced to go through all of that.

    I know myself, I'd mainly be concerned that someone I interact with as a potential business partner looks like they have it together. Don't show up with clothes with holes and tears in them, or clothes that fit really poorly. But beyond that? Trust me.... I don't waste any time looking to see if you have designer brand shoes on, or care if your shirt buttons down vs. pulls over.

    I've found that you can look fairly professional just by wearing clothing as simple as a solid black t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. (It has sort of a modern "I'm a techie." look to it, as long as what you wear is in good, clean condition and fits you properly.)

  91. Re:Wow, that dress thing is still an issue in the by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

    It's NOT a thing in the US. The only reason it's even in the news is because it's an idiotic decision by a formerly-proud tech company circling the drain. Nice of you to show your prejudices, though. Always educational when Europeans look down on Americans, it's not like it hasn't been happening for over 200 years.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  92. Re:My experience dressing down at a business meeti by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

    Wait, I thought dress was a relic from a previous age, one that didn't matter in today's modern world. Now suddenly it has all sorts of important information to convey? Wow, that goes against the entire article.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  93. Re: It's evident that mgmt is running out of scape by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That and when they killed the calculator division

  94. Let's cross dress by hambone142 · · Score: 1

    HP publicly states it doesn't discriminate on the basis of gender identity.

    So... guys need to wear heels that aren't too high and skirts that aren't too short (or blouses that aren't too low cut).

    Problem solved!

  95. Re: shorts by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    It's not exaggerated at all. You said it yourself you don't like the looks of men's legs, and you want shorts banned.

    YOU are imposing YOUR will on others because of what YOU don't like to see.

    Also wearing shorts is not considered poor taste in much of the world, and even if it is how is it any different to skirts? Where is the skirt hate? Why aren't female knees ugly?

    The reality is the only "taste" here we are talking about is YOUR taste. You don't want it interpreted as such? Then stop spreading your hate of men's calves by using the theme of wanting shorts banned.

  96. Re: shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    The commuter train drivers in Stockholm had a problem with an apparently discriminating dress code. But then someone discovered that the dress code was actually gender neutral and only listed the allowed garments, so many of the men started wearing skirts instead of the banned shorts. That scared the management straight, and they soon allowed shorts.

  97. Re:It's evident that mgmt is running out of scapeg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Having worked for HP in the past, i will agree with this... HP have been blaming all levels for its failures, from basic service delivery people not answering enough calls per hour, to engineers not doing enough jobs per day (even if they are only receiving 1 per day), to sales people not making enough sales.

    However the first sign of getting some form of competence in management is to set up some recognisable authority structure and creating some simple ground rules.

    I also recall HP global having a dress code previously, generally it included either a business shirt or a HP logo'd Polo that was either supplied or purchased by the employee... maybe someone got lazy and forgot to uphold it previously...

    All up this story is typical \. fud.

  98. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The argument is generally that R&D is not worth the effort (i.e., money == labor cost) due to the long timeline involved, unless it is just part of using external ideas in a slightly different way.

    Even if they aren't smart, at least they can dress smart.

  99. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At my company, we require shorts and tank tops during the summer months. If you violate the dress code by wearing long pants or sleeves, then you are not allowed to complain about the AC temperature setting. It is currently set to 78F (26C).

    I would have to buy a whole new wardrobe for that job. And that temperature is uncomfortably high. I'll keep my current job, thanks.

  100. Shows intelligence right? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    powerful metal fan accidents. Oops there goes another necktie stuck in the agenda 21 spied on green powerful computer power supply fan, We REFUSE to sue because we REQUIRE these large fans similar to aircraft intakes just to keep our chips' fins cool. after the ambu/cleanup / darwin phase job openings surely the workplace moral will be picking up.
    Certainly some cult out there will pray that HP guys that ride bikes get them stuck in the wheels as there are no more 1927 race cars available on such short notice. We aren't the bank after all, we can't just PRINT money.

    The way I truly see it now is, the older computers are what I want, I need to open a RECYCLE CENTER!!!@ Everybody's happy.

  101. Poor taste by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The guys showed poor taste for wearing such a shirt at the event. Have folks considered maybe there were other extenuating circumstances that led to his dismissal?

  102. They also had ashtrays in mission control by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because everyone knows that the real eggheads use pipes...

    1. Re:They also had ashtrays in mission control by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Because everyone knows that the real eggheads use pipes...

      I notice a couple of the guys in that photo are puffing on cigarettes. It's hard to imagine today, but the guys at NASA mission control probably had ashes all over the equipment.

      My first job was working in a TV studio, and it was not uncommon for the director and technical director (the guy switching and fading between cameras) to have cigarettes dangling from their lips. (By the way, this was on the Bozo show), and I would regularly see Cookie the Clown having a smoke too.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  103. Re:Wow, that dress thing is still an issue in the by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    The reason for me to ask whether it is STILL an issue is that I spent some time working in the US and they were quite strict with work dress code, something I was by no means used to from the European work places I have been to.

    That plus the fact that I was the only one who considered it odd that people have to dress up when there is no way they could possibly come into contact with customers leads me to the conclusion that it was back then the norm in the US.

    And hence me wondering whether it still is the norm.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  104. Re:My experience dressing down at a business meeti by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    There is a difference, and I do sincerely hope you know it, between dirty, stained rags and informal attire. Believe it or not, it's possible to wash jeans and t-shirts so they not only look but also smell nice.

    As for your picture, you might notice that this is from a very different time. That's like complaining about the fashion of the 70s and questioning the sexual preference of the guys.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  105. Thank goodness by FrozenGeek · · Score: 1

    My first thought, when I read the summary, was of my co-workers, all male, wearing short skirts or low-cut dresses. I may have to gouge out my eyes.

    My personal experience is that absent clear enforced rules, deportment degrades over time to unacceptable levels, at which point management institutes unpalatable rules. If you have freedom in deportment, enjoy it but be sensible.

    --
    linquendum tondere
  106. Contractors by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's not like most of their workforce isn't contractors who are already in business casual because their hiring agency requires it anyway.

  107. Sure sign a tech company is doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I would add this to the grocery list of warning telltale signs that you have to dump stock:
    e.g: the management owns their own airplanes or (worse) their own airports, repeated "unexplainable" changes in reporting rules etc.

  108. The headline should read... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    HP announces that its top engineering talent is now available for poaching at lower prices.

  109. It can make a diffrence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Many years ago, I saw a notice on the bulletin board of a client site in Florida. The big debate was allowing shorts at work. The guys were against it because the miniskirts were much short than "business casual Bermuda", but the part I laughed at was "NO Speedos and at any time!" thinking it was a joke. Nope. One of their operators was a college kid on a swim team.On a Saturday, he stopped off at the office to see if a tape job had run before going to a meet. It aborted, so he took the time to re-start it. He was in a Speedo and flop-flops while probably freezing to death in the glassroom when the tour of VIPs came thru ..

    1. Re:It can make a diffrence by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      I've gone the opposite extreme. As a lead tester for a video game company, I sometimes had to come in on Sundays. But I also go to church in the morning. I came into the office in my suit and tie. The supervisor on duty would often do a double take when they saw me, as I often wore shorts and T-shirts during the week.

  110. Next Battle -- Donuts of Friday by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yes, HP has had massive internal strife. I do rememeber. The Dress Code battles, when field engineering stopped wearing ties. I took mine off in hour 10 of a 16 hour day troubleshooting an intermittent SelectorChannel fault in an HP3000. Angst followed the report to my manager.

    But, that was nothing compared to the great donut wars.

    HP was not doing well in the computer business. DEC was handing them their ass. Time to get lean and mean. First act was to cut the free donuts from daily to Friday only. Why, you would have thought we entered WWIII. All work stopped. Angry mobs mingled about in the break rooms at 9:30 every morning. Torches were prepared, ropes broken out.

    It suddenly struck me. If donuts mean more than business, maybe I am at the wrong company. So I left.

    Everything that happened to HP in the next 35 years validated my decision.

  111. Re:My experience dressing down at a business meeti by tlambert · · Score: 2

    There is a difference, and I do sincerely hope you know it, between dirty, stained rags and informal attire. Believe it or not, it's possible to wash jeans and t-shirts so they not only look but also smell nice.

    As for your picture, you might notice that this is from a very different time. That's like complaining about the fashion of the 70s and questioning the sexual preference of the guys.

    I have to agree.

    One of the "You Have Arrived" indicators for success for a technical person in Silicon Valley is not having to wash your T-Shirts unless you want to keep them, because you are getting, on average, a new T-Shirt every day or so. It's a lot less that way these days, but you could, if you are sought after technically, go an entire month without doing laundry, and wear one to two T-shirts a day, with little effort to solicit shirts.

    I had an intern in a button-down collar, at Google, engage me in the following conversation:

    Intern: "Who's the old guy in the T-shirt"
    Me: "Vint Cerf"
    Intern: "Is he the token really old guy? Why do they keep him around?"
    Me: "He invents things. He's a Distinguished Engineer."
    Intern: (not hearing the Caps) "Like what?"
    Me: "The Internet."
    Intern: "Yeah, but what on the internet?"
    Me: "That's it. He invented the Internet."
    Intern: "You're shitting me!"
    Me: "Someone had to. Do you really need me to explain who Vint Cerf is? Because if that's true, I'm willing to do the job, but you should probably 'us' it."
    Intern: "What's 'us it' mean?"
    Me "Google it."

    Frankly I expected defibrillators would be involved at that point, but he recovered.

    He moved to machine learning after that, but I think the lesson improved him.

  112. O17 by tlambert · · Score: 1

    Seriously, I can not take you anywhere.

  113. Re:It's evident that mgmt is running out of scapeg by iTrawl · · Score: 1

    The message could actually be this: "Hey guys, we're forcing you to wear suits because... err... how should we put this... because you'll need them in a short while, when you go job hunting anyway. We're doing you a favour, while not telling you that we're about to start layoffs. You're welcome."

    --
    "Everybody's naked underneath" -- The Doctor
  114. But my religion by allo · · Score: 1

    But my religion requires me to wear nerd shirts. Do not say then you cannot employ people of my religion or you will get a discrimination lawsuit.

  115. Re:So what? Actually, this matters to me too.... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    But as one of the support specialists - the ability to wear jeans and t-shirts was a huge benefit, as we were expected to crawl around on the floor to connect or disconnect cables and had to go out to an industrial shop floor regularly to swap out nasty, grimy old equipment or service it.

    I did PC refresh project where I did a lot of crawling around underneath cubicle desks. Jeans made the boys downstairs hot and uncomfortable (i.e., sweaty balls). I switched to khaki and the problem went away. Then again, I'm old enough to wear what I call my old man's pants (my father wore khaki while working in construction). The only time I wear blue jeans at work is when I haven't picked up my dry cleaning for the week.

  116. this by louden+obscure · · Score: 1
    --
    Serenity now, insanity later.
  117. Re:Wow, that dress thing is still an issue in the by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

    So, when Americans go to Europe for 2 weeks and draw mistaken conclusions from their experiences it means they're idiots, but you do the reverse and it's valid? WTF? And it IS considered stupid in America, lots of companies don't have these policies. I'm starting to get the idea that Europeans aren't nearly as smart and superior as they are constantly claiming to be.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  118. Re:shorts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thank you. Reading your post convinced me that once in a while, there can be a shred of sanity in this world.

  119. they no longer are a creative company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So that reaction is normal.nowadays that company is already boring :/

  120. does your mommie and daddie know by publiclurker · · Score: 1

    that you are using their computer without permission, son?

  121. It could be IBM, 1965. by StevenMoshlak · · Score: 1

    Folks, It could be worse. Heck, the only time we had "business casual" day, was Friday. Denim and t-shirts was only allowed on weekends. Well, H/P better open up their wallets. Dry cleaning and new clothes costs money.

  122. because they are impotent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Freudian slip, or just brilliant? Made me grin either way.

  123. Corporate Dress Code by StikyPad · · Score: 2

    If you like dress codes, you'll love Booz, Allen, Hamilton. Freshly pressed suits, at all times. If you're lucky, you might be allowed to take your jacket off after hours.

    http://www.indeed.com/forum/cm...

  124. Seriously... by cwsumner · · Score: 1

    When you read that HP was "a company founded in a garage by a pair of engineers ", that means that they took off their ties when they got home from their day jobs.
    After all, this was before the 60's... 8-)

  125. So long as your boss is happy....... by Dashiva+Dan · · Score: 1

    I started working for the government about a year ago (Australia).

    Previously I was a standard full stack contracting web developer, and while the allure of lower pay was dangled in front of me, it was the fixed work hours and no crunch that sold me, but I digress.

    Before working here I was jeans and t-shirts 99% of the time, and business casual (that I upped to suit and tie) on occasional client interactions, where appropriate. No worries.
    I was told (after starting, there's no official dress code) that my boss's boss wanted me to dress business casual, without any actual reason given.
    Since then, I've purchased a dozen van heusen 'iron-free' business shirts, and a couple of pairs of chinos, which I cycle around, washing machine + clothes dryer + no iron.
    So now I am constantly looking like a hobo. Wrinkled shirts and pants every day, cause I can't be arsed ironing.
    Jeans and t-shirts don't hold wrinkles... and are much more comfortable, and save me from looking like a hobo, but at least my boss's boss is happy now.
    p.s. Fridays we're allowed jeans (but still collared shirts) and Fridays are just as productive as any other day, just a hell of a lot more relaxed (in my experience, Fridays are usually less productive, all other things being equal)

    tl;dr: It's weird how what you wear matters more to some bosses than your job performance.

    --
    "lt;dr" is the correct response to most of my posts.
  126. Re:Fuck That. I'd leave. by Dashiva+Dan · · Score: 1

    While cost is a factor, it isn't the only one. What about those of us who have a) a significant walking portion of our commute and/or b) women who are required to wear heels (while not often an outright requirement, a lot of pressure is often on women to wear them) and then you need to carry an extra pair of sneakers with you every day. One more thing to forget/remember/carry/juggle/distract from your day.
    (And while I understand a lot of women who choose to wear high heels for dressing up will commonly carry sneakers/whatever with them by their own choice, I don't think going to work falls into the same arena, and should at least be your own choice)

    --
    "lt;dr" is the correct response to most of my posts.
  127. Re:Fuck That. I'd leave. by Pubstar · · Score: 1

    Again, the Bass shoes that I bought have really strong soles, and are super comfortable. I spent 6 months in these shoes walking around a hospital or standing at a work station fixing it. The hospital was one of the huge medical centers, and it was like a half mile (or more) to just get to the other side of the building, and I was consistently walking everywhere. While it may not be a very long distance like some people's commute, I did put a ton of wear on the shoes and they are still going strong.

  128. Re: shorts by mah! · · Score: 1

    I see... so why should one have to wear anything at all?

    If I were to decide to go to work wearing just my hat and a pair of sneakers, why shouldn't I be allowed to do so?

    Is showing one's behind or one's front bad taste? Or why else is it banned?

    Who decided that --as outer garment-- shorts and XXL T-shirts are OK at work, but tight speedos are not OK at work?

    Why are man allowed to run on the street in shorts only, barechested, but women aren't?

    (at least that's what I've observed in most anglophone countries... other places around the world seem to have other, quite varying, rules)

  129. Re:Wow, that dress thing is still an issue in the by Your.Master · · Score: 1

    I think you both might be confused.

    It's very regional in the US. Business casual is very common for non-customer-facing positions in much of the US Northeast and the adjoining areas of Canada. The Pacific Coast is noticeably more relaxed.

  130. Re:Fuck That. I'd leave. by Dashiva+Dan · · Score: 1

    Ahh, I picked up a pair of rockports that are the most comfortable dress shoes I've ever had, weren't toooo expensive, and last forever. But they're not sneakers, and never will be.
    Then again, I had a cold office for a while that I kept a pair of ugg boots in, and changed at work for the day, some days I'd wear sneakers into work, change in the elevator to dress shoes, and change 5 min later into ugg boots, and in reverse at the end of the day :)
    But I'd rather just wear one comfortable pair of shoes all day long.

    --
    "lt;dr" is the correct response to most of my posts.
  131. Re:It's evident that mgmt is running out of scapeg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You might not be far from the truth.

    HP has been moving increasingly towards the standardized metrics monitored by idiots who have no actual concept of what people do. They're also going for a heavily off-shored model of delivery which they are as yet incapable of recognizing the drop in quality.

    Management has pretty much relentlessly doing all they can to crush employee morale and make HP a terrible place to work -- and they've been cost cutting to the bone to make up for several CEOs worth of incompetent management.

    HP has become a shit hole to work for, and pretty much make it worse every month.

    It's a large, diverse, and completely confused corporation which doesn't even really know what it does any more.

    Who knows what will happen when the company splits into corporations for consumer products and everything else ... but it's been clear management hasn't had any idea of how to run the company for years.

    The only thing HP management knows how to do is lose money and give themselves massive compensation packages. Which is pretty much identical to most modern corporations.

    What really needs to happen is reigning in the pay of executives and stop pretending losing billions earns you millions in bonuses. The rest of us don't get bonuses for being incompetent.

  132. gweihir's incompetence & arrogance proven by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    * I find it UTTERLY HILARIOUS seeing a bullshit artist mere talk TROLLING done zero loser like you has the NERVE to state what you did - especially after you RAN in that link above, gweihir... lol!

    You don't HAVE the ability to code & the link above evidences it - you're a bullshit blowhard, nothing more - a MERE TECHIE MENIAL @ best/most!

    (FACT: Minus coders like myself, you TECHIE or NETWORK ADMIN MENIALS ARE HELPLESS - just as you've SHOWN yourself to be in that link above!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk

  133. gweihir proves he's all show, NO SUBSTANCE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    * I find it UTTERLY HILARIOUS seeing a bullshit artist mere talk TROLLING done zero loser like you has the NERVE to state what you did - especially after you RAN in that link above, gweihir... lol!

    You don't HAVE the ability to code & the link above evidences it - you're a bullshit blowhard, nothing more - a MERE TECHIE MENIAL @ best/most!

    (FACT: Minus coders like myself, you TECHIE or NETWORK ADMIN MENIALS ARE HELPLESS - just as you've SHOWN yourself to be in that link above!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk

  134. gweihir only knows dress code (not coding) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    * I find it UTTERLY HILARIOUS seeing a bullshit artist mere talk TROLLING done zero loser like you has the NERVE to state what you did - especially after you RAN in that link above, gweihir... lol!

    You don't HAVE the ability to code & the link above evidences it - you're a bullshit blowhard, nothing more - a MERE TECHIE MENIAL @ best/most!

    (FACT: Minus coders like myself, you TECHIE or NETWORK ADMIN MENIALS ARE HELPLESS - just as you've SHOWN yourself to be in that link above!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk

  135. Dress code? How about REAL code, menial?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    * I find it UTTERLY HILARIOUS seeing a bullshit artist mere talk TROLLING done zero loser like you has the NERVE to state what you did - especially after you RAN in that link above, gweihir... lol!

    You don't HAVE the ability to code & the link above evidences it - you're a bullshit blowhard, nothing more - a MERE TECHIE MENIAL @ best/most!

    (FACT: Minus coders like myself, you TECHIE or NETWORK ADMIN MENIALS ARE HELPLESS - just as you've SHOWN yourself to be in that link above!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk

  136. Silence you limited MENIAL dolt! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    * I find it UTTERLY HILARIOUS seeing a bullshit artist mere talk TROLLING done zero loser like you has the NERVE to state what you did - especially after you RAN in that link above, gweihir... lol!

    You don't HAVE the ability to code & the link above evidences it - you're a bullshit blowhard, nothing more - a MERE TECHIE MENIAL @ best/most!

    (FACT: Minus coders like myself, you TECHIE or NETWORK ADMIN MENIALS ARE HELPLESS - just as you've SHOWN yourself to be in that link above!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk

  137. gweihir, if anyone's proven incompetent, it's you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    * I find it UTTERLY HILARIOUS seeing a bullshit artist mere talk TROLLING done zero loser like you has the NERVE to state what you did - especially after you RAN in that link above, gweihir... lol!

    You don't HAVE the ability to code & the link above evidences it - you're a bullshit blowhard, nothing more - a MERE TECHIE MENIAL @ best/most!

    (FACT: Minus coders like myself, you TECHIE or NETWORK ADMIN MENIALS ARE HELPLESS - just as you've SHOWN yourself to be in that link above!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk

  138. gweihir != computer scientist or software engineer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    * I find it UTTERLY HILARIOUS seeing a bullshit artist mere talk TROLLING done zero loser like you has the NERVE to state what you did - especially after you RAN in that link above, gweihir... lol!

    You don't HAVE the ability to code & the link above evidences it - you're a bullshit blowhard, nothing more - a MERE TECHIE MENIAL @ best/most!

    (FACT: Minus coders like myself, you TECHIE or NETWORK ADMIN MENIALS ARE HELPLESS - just as you've SHOWN yourself to be in that link above!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk

  139. gweihir = IRRELEVANT & incompetent in computin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    * I find it UTTERLY HILARIOUS seeing a bullshit artist mere talk TROLLING done zero loser like you has the NERVE to state what you did - especially after you RAN in that link above, gweihir... lol!

    You don't HAVE the ability to code & the link above evidences it - you're a bullshit blowhard, nothing more - a MERE TECHIE MENIAL @ best/most!

    (FACT: Minus coders like myself, you TECHIE or NETWORK ADMIN MENIALS ARE HELPLESS - just as you've SHOWN yourself to be in that link above!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk

  140. gweihir's relevance in computing? None by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Run, Forrest: RUN!!!" vs. a fair challenge http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    * I find it UTTERLY HILARIOUS seeing a bullshit artist mere talk TROLLING done zero loser like you has the NERVE to state what you did - especially after you RAN in that link above, gweihir... lol!

    You don't HAVE the ability to code & the link above evidences it - you're a bullshit blowhard, nothing more - a MERE TECHIE MENIAL @ best/most!

    (FACT: Minus coders like myself, you TECHIE or NETWORK ADMIN MENIALS ARE HELPLESS - just as you've SHOWN yourself to be in that link above!)

    APK

    P.S.=> Keep on shooting your blowhard done nothing in computing mouth off gweihir - I'll be RIGHT THERE AGAIN to expose your crap yet again (have fun with the shame you'll have to publicly endure here & YOU STARTED IT WITH ME YOU USELESS TROLLING LOSER WITH NO SKILLS BUT LOTS OF MERE "TALK", lmao)... apk