In today’s workforce, aesthetic maintenance is no longer an optional perk — it’s fast becoming an unspoken prerequisite for career success. According to a recent investigation by Business Insider, professionals across industries are feeling pressure to invest in beauty regimens, cosmetic procedures and weight-loss drugs in order to remain relevant in the office.
For 44-year-old public-relations executive Emily Reynolds, the balancing act is real: she pays for Botox, fillers, laser facials and heavy workouts to walk “the precarious line between looking mature enough to show I’m experienced, and young enough to be desirable.”
The data supports what may have seemed anecdotal: attractive people tend to earn more and advance faster. A 2023 study found that the “prettiest” MBA graduates earned an extra $5,500 annually compared to their peers. “It matters as much for men as it does for women,” says Nikhil Malik, the study’s lead author.
Remote-work life only amplified the scrutiny. Video calls forced employees to confront their own reflections daily; in Australia, more than one-third of participants in a 2021 study began judging parts of their appearance after increased screen time. Cosmetic procedures followed suit: from 2019 to 2024, the number of injectable treatments nearly doubled in the US.
Meanwhile, so-called GLP-1 weight-loss drugs (e.g., Ozempic) have intensified pressure on appearance. According to one survey, about 12 % of Americans now use these medications for weight loss which in turn fuels “lookism” at work. “If you aren’t doing things about it, then you’re morally wrong, or you’re a bad person,” warns Ally Duvall of the startup Equip.
Even for those advocating against ageism and beauty bias, the pull is strong. Coach and podcast host Maureen Wiley Clough said she “got Botox for the first time after watching myself on a screen and obsessing over lines on my face I hadn’t noticed much before.”
And perhaps most bluntly: “If people think that they can get further in their career by throwing some Botox in their forehead, they’re going to keep doing it,” Wiley Clough says. “The sad part is, in many ways, I think they’re probably not wrong.”
The transformation of the workplace into an aesthetic marketplace presents thorny questions: when beauty becomes a job-skill, what happens to equity, authenticity and merit? As ageism, weight stigma and the “pretty privilege” gap intertwine, professionals find themselves navigating not just meetings and deadlines, but their own reflection in the corporate mirror.
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