Body shaming is incredibly damaging to our personal well-being, but it is adversely affecting our professional success as well.
This is the overall sentiment from a new report by Within, a mental wellness service provider. They conducted a wide-reaching survey to look into body size discrimination at work; more than 1,000 employed Americans were surveyed about their recent experiences and the findings were disheartening.
According to the report, 1 in 10 workers said their decision to quit their job was linked to their body, while 39% of people felt they were laid off because of a body size bias at work. The report went on to point out that 61% of employees in larger bodies felt their body size factored into whether they received a promotion, with over 3 in 10 less likely than other employees to get promoted. And only 38% of employees in larger bodies experienced a raise last year, compared to other employees (48%).
Bloomberg pointed out that one study suggests that for every 6 pounds an average American woman gains, her hourly pay drops 2%.
“Managers and employees should recognize any biases they may hold against others based on body size and work to overcome them in order to improve their workplaces,” the report said. “At the same time, people need to focus on healthy coping strategies for managing stress and maintaining a healthy body image. A person may be unable to control their work environment, but nurturing mental health makes work a healthier place for everyone to thrive.”