Glasgow - A decent curriculum vitae, a raft of qualifications and a willingness to learn are no longer enough to get you a job. If you want to set the new "aesthetic labour" market alight, you've got to look the part: ugly people need not apply.
Researchers from Strathclyde university, in Glasgow, Scotland, have spent two years looking at the city's transition from manufacturing and heavy industry to a style-led, service economy. The key to employment is now not what you know, but how you look.
As new designer boutiques, bars and clubs spring up with monotonous regularity, employers are looking for people dressed well enough to fit in. It is a trend that is being replicated across Britain, researchers believe. "What employers are looking for is people who look right and sound good. They want people with attitude and we think people are being discriminated against because of their looks," says Mr Chris Warhurst, who led the research.