Is vanity changing the office?

Vanity fair: Why Ozempic, Botox, fillers and surgical tweaks are becoming job requirements in 2026

THIS MONTH, ACROSS the country, many workers were heading back to the office full-time. Some had only been off for Christmas, but others — those in government or the financial sector — might now have an all-in-office schedule for the first time in years. Whatever it is leading them back in, though, there’s something that seemingly unites everyone in their march back to the cubicle these days: the desire to look good at work.

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The drive to look good at work has a lot of professionals going to ever-more extreme lengths to (literally) put on a good face.

“In the past year, I have been stunned by a new professional phenomenon: shrinking contacts,” wrote the Financial Times’ Emma Jacobs. “I turn up to a meeting, interview, or lunch, only to discover the lawyer or academic is startlingly leaner than when we last met.”

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This is an Ozempic story to some degree. The popular weight loss drug (along with other similar GLP-1 drugs) is now covered by the insurance plans of 43 per cent of large companies, Jacobs reports. Employees believe there is at least some discrimination present in the workplace based on weight. “One study found that almost a third of workers had seen discrimination against someone at work because of their weight,” Jacobs wrote. “In an uncertain job market, maybe losing weight is rational.”

But it seems to go beyond weight, too. Business Insider wrote recently about a rise in plastic surgery that is tied to the increase of in-office work, especially for workers in middle age.

“I’ve had a couple people say they just feel like they’re in a young world and they’re older and they don’t want to be seen as aging out of their career,”  said health professional Jennifer Belen, speaking to reporter Juliana Kaplan. Another professional in middle age told her that his facelift had similar motivations. “It’s not selfish,” one 55-year-old patient coordinator said. “You show up better, you show up more confident, you’re more confident in what you’re doing because you feel good.”

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The unfortunate reality is that a lot of these people are probably onto something. In an essay titled Being hot is now a job requirement, writer Amanda Hoover cites a number of studies that have shown more attractive workers have a higher lifetime earning potential. Many people who are going under the knife or getting injections say they do it from a place of seeing how good looks can make your professional life easier. And it’s hard to argue with people who say that their unapologetic glow-up is making them feel better at work.

“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,” said Maureen Wiley Clough.  “The sad part is, in many ways, I think they’re probably not wrong.” Kieran Delamont