Roger Day wrote:
>EDS was/is one of the few computer firms that required a *strict*
>dress code, most existing computer firms (outside of IBM and their
>infamous blue-suiters) shy away from strict dress codes.
>
>"For example, discussing salaries has been an immediate firing offense
>from the first days at EDS, Perot's company. The company dress code,
>up into the 1970s, required white shirts only for men (he considered
>blue shirts effeminate), no pants or flats for women, and no "mod
>looks," as the contract put it. But the intrusion went much further."
>
>"EDS tapped phones and used detectives to investigate its own
>employees, according to Posner. He traced license plate numbers in the
>parking lot to see who came late or left early, just as Nader
>telephones employees at home on sunny weekends to test how long they
>work. And in "particularly heated" fights for contracts, employees on
>the bid team would be physically searched to ensure they did not
>remove any paperwork that could assist the opposition. (Posner,
>p94-5)"
>
>>From the EDS site I can a few - oh the humanity! - blue shirts so
>maybe things have changed.
>
>
Oh God, you reminded me. Right. I knew that the man wore suits. So
did I, different firm, it was just Business UnCasual. I forgot about
the women, all of whom dressed like Donna Reed clones or Stepford employees.
I can condemn Perot's FBI routine but I am not sure he's that much
different from most employers.
Blue shirts were effeminate? Wow. I wore blue all the time, sometimes
maybe beige or stripes, and categorically refused to wear white shirts.
No kidding, I referred to them as The Badge of the Oppressor. Do I
wonder why my "business career" wasn't a glorious success. I was damn
near a C.O.!
Ken
--
Kenneth Wolman
Proposal Development Department
Room SW334
Sarnoff Corporation
609-734-2538
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.
-Douglas Adams
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