VOA慢速英语--华尔街的员工再也不用穿西装了

No More Suits for Wall Street Workers

The Goldman Sachs Group recently eased its rules for what employees wear to work. Then, the company asked them for ideas on what they should wear to work now.

Goldman Sachs employees were told to leave comments with the Twitter social media service.

The most popular answer was “hoodie and sneakers.” The second most common answer was a “suit.”

The findings showed that the issue of what to wear to work has become important at one of the oldest, most traditional businesses.

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs sent a letter to its employees. The 150-year-old company said that the time was right “to move to (a) firmwide flexible dress code.” At the same time, the firm asked its 36,000 employees to think carefully about how they dress for work.

The move toward flexible, less structured workplaces began in the 1990s, said Robert Burke, head of Robert Burke Associates, a service specializing in the fashion industry.

The idea became widely accepted with the rise of technology companies like Amazon and Facebook and their leaders. Burke said that Goldman Sachs is one of the last big Wall Street firms to ease its dress code.

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg is famous for wearing blue jeans and a gray T-shirt. He and his company changed the way people communicate with each other and advertise. When he wore a blue suit to a congressional hearing last year, some people said he appeared smaller or of less importance than his public standing².

That event shows that one cannot wear jeans everywhere.

But the financial companies knew they must change because they want young people working as their employees. These individuals could just as easily work for a technology company, and never have to wear a suit to work.

The clothing rules at Goldman Sachs first changed in 2017 for the company’s technology and digital division employees. By including the rest of its workforce³, Goldman honors its “one firm philosophy and the changing nature of workplaces.” The change comes three years after JPMorgan Chase & Co, the largest bank in the United States, announced its own flexible dress code.

The change can be seen among the leaders of financial service companies. Goldman Sachs’ chief David Solomon sometimes goes to official events without a necktie, as have the chiefs of JP Morgan Chase and Citigroup.

Talk of the move to business casual is often about what men wear. That is because the banking⁴ industry has mostly male leaders. Catalyst⁵ is an organization that supports women in the workplace. The group says its research shows that men held nearly 80 percent of top positions in U.S. investment banking and securities dealing⁶ in 2015.

For many years, women have much harder choices to make about what to wear to work.

Jennifer Hyman is chief of Rent-the-Runway, a clothing service for women. She told Goldman Sachs in a tweet that none of the answers listed in its survey are related to women and what they should wear to work.

There are fashion tech companies that offer advice for women tired of investing so much time in deciding what to wear. Such businesses want to help women create their own office “uniform.”

Ariel Schur is head of the employment service ABS Staffing Solutions. Schur told the Associated Press that she gets more questions from men nowadays about what to wear for job interviews and meetings. Those kinds of questions have been asked by women for a long time.

“Guys have always just been able to wear the same suit, change their ties and shirt,” Schur said. “You have to be more cognitive⁷” as a woman, she added.

So, what is acceptable to wear at the office these days?

“This is pretty much what we wear,” said Ed Silhan, who works for an advertising⁸ technology firm. “Flip flops⁹, or playground sneakers — I’d stay away from that,” he said. “You know, beat-up Nikes that you play basketball with. Just look presentable.”

Silhan wore black jeans and boots as he spoke¹⁰ to an AP reporter in New York’s Midtown Manhattan.

The “midtown uniform” — slacks, button-downed shirt and fleece vest — has become a common choice for men who work in U.S. offices.

“That’s probably a lazy solution,” said Chris Bossola of The Need Supply Co. He says it would be better if men created a set of clothing that works for their industry.

I’m Bryan Lynn. And I'm Dorothy Gundy.

Words in This Story

hoodie – n. a sweatshirt with a hood¹ covering the head

sneaker – n. a shoe with a rubber bottom that is designed for people to wear while running or playing sports

suit – n. two or more pieces of clothing that are worn together

dress code – n. a set of rules about what clothing may and may not be worn at a school, office, or restaurant

fashion – n. the popular look or way of doing things

blue jean – n. clothing made of blue denim¹¹

interview - n. a meeting at which information gathered from a person

cognitive – adj. of or relating to intellectual activity

slacks – n. clothing worn from the waist down to the ankle

vest – n. clothing worn on the upper body over a shirt

1 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

4 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

5 catalyst   

n.催化剂，造成变化的人或事

参考例句：

• A catalyst is a substance which speeds up a chemical reaction.催化剂是一种能加速化学反应的物质。
• The workers'demand for better conditions was a catalyst for social change.工人们要求改善工作条件促进了社会变革。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

8 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

9 flops   

n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• a pair of flip-flops 一双人字拖鞋
• HPC environments are often measured in terms of FLoating point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) . HPC环境通常以每秒浮点运算次数(FLOPS)加以度量。 来自互联网

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 denim   

n.斜纹棉布；斜纹棉布裤，牛仔裤

参考例句：

• She wore pale blue denim shorts and a white denim work shirt.她穿着一条淡蓝色的斜纹粗棉布短裤，一件白粗布工作服上衣。
• Dennis was dressed in denim jeans.丹尼斯穿了一条牛仔裤。