Wall Street Giant Amends Its Dress Code and Allows Business Casuals

By Soham Samaddar - 05 Jun '16 08:23AM

Whenever one thinks of Wall Street professionals, the only thing that comes to mind is the vision of a professional in formal attire that includes a business suit, tie and formal shoes, however with the passage of time, it seems that 'the street' is slowly moving away from its old rules. Wall Street giants JP Morgan have decided that from now on they would allow their employees to come to work in business casuals on all days of the week and it seems that it is a part of the company's desire to be more attuned to a workforce that might be more comfortable in business casuals rather than business formals.

This past Friday, the bank released a statement that gave its 200,000 plus strong workforce the freedom to wear business casuals on all days of the week and that is certainly something that would be welcomed by the younger employees of the company, who are accusomed to a more casual dress code when it comes to work. The bank stated in their statement, "More clients are dressing informally, and many parts of our business are already business casual. And while it may not be possible to dress business casual at all times or in all areas, we believe having a firm wide guideline is the right thing to do."

It seems that this is a part of a larger effort on the part of many Wall Street firms to ensure that they are able to attract talents from Silicon Valley, which has promoted a culture of casual dressing ever since it became the tech capital of the world and it is a natural progression. However, it must be pointed out that it is not a free for all and JP Morgan's executives would not be turning up to work in faded jeans just yet. According to the New York Times, these are the dress codes, "• Formal business attire

Casual pants, capri pants, dresses and skirts of appropriate length for the workplace
Business-appropriate casual shirts, polo shirts, sweaters, tops and blouses (including JPMorgan or Chase-branded apparel, naturally)
Dress shoes and dress sandals
Minimal, tasteful jewelry and fragrances"