Putting on a cheery face for your boss and co-workers can be exhausting -- so maybe it's easier to just go into work with no face at all.
At least that's what a Chinese company is having their employees do. As PRI reports, service company Woffice has "No-Face Days" where their entire staff wears white plastic masks that hide their facial expressions. Everyone in the office is required to wear the masks, right on down to the janitorial staff and security guards. The intended purpose? "Stop forcing yourself; unleash the relaxed you."
And what does a "no face" mask look like? They're opaque and featureless, much like a certain serial killer's hockey mask, and have two holes for eyes above and below which are long black streaks. They're a near-exact replica of the character No-Face from Spirited Away.
There really could be a benefit to hiding your face at work -- at least for women, anyway. According to research from Germany's Technische Universitat Munchen, cheerful, smiling women are seen as less capable of taking on leadership roles compared to their male counterparts. But why a company would go to such extreme (and unsettling) measures to shield the emotions of their employees is a mystery. Perhaps they're taking the phrase "office drones" a bit too seriously.
Just one question: are you allowed to take them off while you eat?