Aesthetic and athletic employees: The negative outcome of employers assuming responsibility for sickness benefits

Abstract

Previous research into employers’ aesthetic demands regarding labour has found that hiring good-looking workers has become a conscious recruitment strategy among service companies intending to increase sales. In this article, aesthetic demands are divided into different categories, one of which is related to health issues. This category is labelled athletic demands, which entail employers’ search for healthy-looking workers. It is argued that the use of athletic labour is used as a proxy to avoid future costs for workers’ sickness absence and rehabilitation. This suggests that aesthetic labour is far more important and extensive than hitherto acknowledged.