How Furry Are You At Work?
Furries can be found working in virtually every industry. We are doctors, lawyers, some of us even work for the government. We can be the person who slices your meat at the deli, details your car, landscapes your yard, we can be your neighborhood mail carrier. A furry could even be your boss.
There is a longstanding rumor that furries are solely responsible for keeping the internet up and running. With a large number of us working in IT-related fields such as networking, cybersecurity, programming, and web development, it’s not that far from the truth.
Like any other hobby, the furry fandom is a great way to escape the mundane and have fun. But like any hobby, there’s no denying its potential to influence other aspects of our lives, both personal and professional. As an organization dedicated to supporting furry-owned businesses, the Furry Chamber of Commerce is proud have a varied mix of furry professionals in our membership community; people who work a regular day job and have a furry side-hustle, businesses that are not necessarily furry-focused but are owned and operated by furries, and people who have made furry their full-time careers. To better support our members as well as the broader furry community, (and let’s be honest, we were curious) we thought it would be fun to find out how common it is to be openly furry at work.
What Does Being Furry in the Workplace Look Like?
To find out, we launched a survey that was open to the public and shared via the Furry Chamber of Commerce Discord as well as our Bluesky profile. We received 168 responses representing a global community of furries covering a wide variety of industries. While the majority of respondents are traditionally employed either full or part-time, a small percentage, 8.3%, indicated that they are self-employed.
Those who answered “Yes” to being self-employed include both furry and non-furry businesses.
The main purpose of this survey was to find out who is or isn’t openly furry at work, why or why not, and to what degree they’re open. We allowed respondents to answer how openly furry they were on a scale rating with 1 being “very open” and 5 being “not open at all”.
Participants answered on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being “I’m very open. I would wear a fursuit to work if the opportunity presented itself” and 5 being “Absolutely not. Furry? Who’s furry?”
While the majority of respondents indicated they maintained some level of separation between their furry and non-furry lives, there was still a significant number who were very openly furry at work. We asked respondents to go into more detail about the reasoning behind their ranking in our survey and to share more about what either compartmentalizing their furry life from their work life or, if applicable, being open looks like for them. Here’s what they had to say, in their own words.
Not Openly Furry At All: 28%
These respondents choose to keep their work and personal lives completely separate and are not openly furry at work. Among the reasons stated are due to irrelevance to their job, a general desire to keep all aspects of home and work life separate, or concerns that revealing themselves as a furry could damage their career.
“The industry I work in is not very liberal-minded. Revealing that I am a furry would ruin my reputation. I only tell colleagues who have left the industry. Working in more ‘serious’ fields sometimes means you can’t express your interests. Right now, with the political situation in the US, I would rather hide my furry affiliation.”
“I create and verify operator and maintenance manuals for drones used by the military. It’s a very small, conservative industry, and highly based on recognition to which open furriness would likely create significant barriers.”
“My coworkers are my age or younger and Internet savvy, so they are familiar with furries on a surface level. The one time furries were mentioned at a happy hour, the tone was of curiosity and a little bewilderment. My coworkers are all cowboy fighter pilot types, and I feel like coming out as a furry would make me an ‘other’, which I try to avoid because I am already an outsider in ways I’ve learned to mask (neurodivergent, rare ethnicity, bi-curious, etc).”
“Furry is a hobby and completely irrelevant to my job. Why would I tell anyone? Furthermore, the general disdain that furries are held in has the potential to undermine my credibility as an educator.”
Some respondents within this category also shared their legitimate fears that revealing themselves as a furry would not only endanger their employment, but potentially their safety.
“I teach grade schoolers math. Can you even imagine being openly furry as a teacher in the public US school system? I would be fired, or potentially worse.”
Somewhat Open About Being A Furry At Work: 53%
Unsurprisingly, over half of our respondents indicated some degree of wanting to keep a balance between their furry life and work life, with most being selectively open at work with people they feel they can trust. Responses ranged from being open among work friends but are not what could be considered “lifestylers” where it would be immediately apparent, to plausible deniability where any fandom-adjacent attire or office decor could easily be explained away via a tailored response depending on the audience.
Some keep their furry status on strictly a need-to-know basis where it isn’t likely to come up at work, but if it does, it will only be confirmed under the right circumstances.
“I run the software engineering department at a tech startup that helps connect biotech consultants with biotech companies that are doing pharmaceutical drug development. There are some people at work who know, but not all. I’m not super concerned about people finding out, as tech is usually pretty full of people with weird hobbies. Being in a more senior position I do feel like I have to play it kinda safe. The people I have told though have been really interested and excited. One of the product managers that used to work for me thought it was really cool and we ended up talking a lot about furry business together.”
“I work as a receptionist in a cardiology office. I live close to a major convention, so my boss put two and two together when I asked for the PTO time. I’m lucky that the convention is well known and well received by almost everyone that lives in the area. I even sent my coworkers fursuiter pictures at their request when I attended last year! I also decorate my desk with furry made art. I don’t think I’d ever wear a fursuit to the office, but I don’t hide my involvement in furry.”
“I head a government program that registers over 80% of people in the state to vote, which means I’m responsible for executive operations including staff management, budgets, policy and procedure determinations, communicating with elected officials, as well as attending state, local, and federal events. I have told my boss that I was going to conventions in the past and he asked at some point what they were about. He listened patiently as I explained as much as I was comfortable with. He also knows that I do volunteer work with conventions and that’s where my public relations and media relations experience is used outside of work. Otherwise it’s not a thing I talk about. I DO have a furry license plate though, so…”
“When a teacher is out, I come in and teach the class for them. I monitor to make sure students get work done and that so chaos doesn’t break out. I am open with some of my coworkers and very closed off with others. Some have looked at me funny, but mostly I have been accepted. I absolutely do not share it with students 99% of the time.”
“I generally don’t talk about it because I have a certain professional reputation to uphold, but a few coworkers know and I have worn my fursuit on a casual call with the team at the request of a director because she likes the suit. When I worked in a branch, I wore it at Halloween a couple of times. Most people think it’s a fun suit and they sometimes ask questions about it. Never had any negative experiences with it at work really. We understand that everybody has their own hobbies and interests. Not really one’s place to judge.”
Very Openly Furry At Work: 20.8%
While the majority of people we asked stated that they prefer to keep some level of separation between furry and real life, there was still a significant number of respondents who have fully embraced being openly furry in every aspect of their lives, including in the workplace.
“As a site reliability engineer, I keep a system running 24/7 used by thousands of big customers. I have worn a fursuit to industry conferences, Halloween, company events, and all hands meetings. My LinkedIn and slack use fursona art. I’ve even had my fursuit on the NASDAQ building in NYC as part of a company IPO.”
“If you’re visiting a National Park and you’ve got questions about that grey streak you saw run across the road, who do you ask? The Park Ranger! I work at the visitor centers, out on trails, and during programming to answer questions and educate the public on anything from plant identification, historical relevance, astronomy, and more, as well as help keep park guests safe and informed of potential risks and hazards along the trails. I recently got to be Smokey Bear because I showed pictures of my fursuit to my boss and used it as proof that I can handle the risk of skiing in a bear costume.”
“I revealed that I was a furry during a holiday party, mostly to see how many of my coworkers would be surprised. A few of them already knew, and on the whole reception to my coming out as furry has been overwhelmingly positive, with my general manager even offering to help me acquire a fursuit. I’m not entirely sure how much they mean that, but I do appreciate their enthusiasm.”
“I write programs that render computers useless if an enemy attempts to open them up. My job knows I publish furry novels and take time off to sell at fur cons, I don’t keep my furriness a secret from anyone. I’m close to retirement, so it’s too late to worry about career advancement, but you’ll be surprised how little people care.”
One respondent even shared that being furry actually helped them land their current position.
“I run the website, social media, newsletter, and marketing for a small theatre for young audiences. Building my YouTube channel for furries was a big part of my resume, and it was a key factor in my getting hired in the first place. The artists I work with are all curious and supportive. In rehearsals, our director wanted to show our actors my latest fursuit, which was met with delight. Making my own fursuits is also helping me build a portfolio that might one day allow me to step away from marketing and into the costume departments in my industry.”
When Being Furry Is Your Job
As a very maker-centric fandom, it’s no surprise that some of the furries we polled have been able to turn furry into a career, whether as a side hustle or a full-time job. In response to the question “Do you work in-fandom or are otherwise in a fandom-adjacent industry?”, 5.4% responded confidently “Yes” they work in fandom-spaces, 15% said “Somewhat” clarifying in their comments that they are part-time furry entrepreneurs (Entreprefurs? We’ll workshop that one).
A small portion of “Unsure” respondents shared that they’re aspiring to turn furry into supplemental income but aren’t quite there yet.
“I freelance most of the time and do retail work for steady income. My freelancing gig is making art and illustrations for books, music album covers, and more. My wholesale position is me advertising and connecting retailers with our co-op art store’s in-house supplies. We make paints and pen inks by hand. I’ve been able to get our scrappy art supplies in art and gift stores around the country, Canada, UK, and Australia.”
“I work at a store that sells video games, consoles, and other pop culture related items. I also am a fursuit maker that offers NSFW options and also a NSFW digital artist.”
Even among career furries, there were some interesting comments about how open they are when presenting themselves and what they do to the public, and in some cases, even family.
“I draw animals and sell my illustrations at events. People in Poland (where I live) generally don’t know what a furry is, they’re happy to call me ‘Foxy’. The younger generation, or those raised in the wide seas of the internet, don’t really care.”
“I work for a furry publishing and merch company. My role is to handle the production of our merch, products, and the formatting and printing of our books. I also manage the company’s social media accounts. I worked for a church before my current job and they didn’t think twice about me being a furry. Right now I’m only open to friends, family not so much.”
“I deliver science classroom programs and demonstrations in schools, science centres, and libraries. I also do the associated administrative work as part of an outreach team at my university. I also take digital art commissions on occasion to supplement my income, which are about 80% SFW. Due to working with children and the general public idea of furries as being ‘a sex thing’ I don’t talk about my hobby at all at work. I do occasionally share art of animals or humans which could pass as non furry.”
“I own the local witchcraft shop in Savannah, GA, called Cosmic Corner. We sell spiritual supplies; candles, incense, crystals, tarot cards, books, as well as some more ‘aesthetic’ items like statues, tapestries, and art. We’re also a community center, we host weekly meditations, classes about various spiritual topics, book clubs, potlucks, meetings, etc. for a very diverse group of people. I do art as a side hustle, and sometimes that includes adult art. I don’t really talk about this to the general public, and definitely not to my family. I have a separate account name for all of that, so it won’t come up if people Google me. But as far as friends go, they wouldn’t be my friends if they weren’t chill about adult art. I’ll tell them, but most of them don’t ask to see it haha!”
“Being a full time freelancer means I never feel like I have to apologize for my portfolio because I’m hired by a lot of different clients of varying interests, but I’m proud of my work. I introduce myself as a wildlife illustrator because that’s aspirational for the work I’d like to do more of, but I don’t hide the fact that furry art is how I’ve been able to pay the bills and who’s supported me the most. If anyone has a bad reaction, that says more about them than me. When I was an in-house Marketing copywriter, everyone knew I did art as a side hustle and were always curious about everything I drew, which is all SFW so there were no compartmentalization concerns there. In general, the response was very positive. But did I openly call myself a furry to my coworkers? No, but if they knew, they knew. Once you start talking about fursonas, they have enough pieces of the puzzle to figure it out for themselves. My family all knows and is very supportive. To them, creating art is basically magic and using my skills to make money is what they’ve always wanted for me, even if the primary audience was unexpected.”
Professional Furries in Adult-Oriented Spaces
Among those working in exclusively furry or furry-adjacent jobs, only a small percentage reported that they primarily deal in adult-focused goods (toys, gear) and creative services (art, writing), with 8.3% responding “Yes” and 15.5% “Somewhat”, again indicating that this is a part-time pursuit. When asked about how open they are about their career to others, most agreed that while it can be difficult to explain to people outside the fandom, that comes with the territory of being in adult spaces in general whether they’re furry or not.
“I own Lycantasy.com, which is an adult toy company that makes toys based on fictional creatures, such as cryptids and those from folklore and mythology. I try to make toys that are more accessible to more body types, with an emphasis on trans bodies. I vend at furry conventions for a majority of my income. I’ve been in the adult toy industry since 2008 and when I first started I was a bit more reserved about who I told about my job. I would say things like ‘I work in mold craft’ or ‘I work in prosthetics’. But since I opened my own business in 2021, I am much more open and proud of what I do. There are still situations where I bite my tongue depending on who I’m talking to. My family has always been supportive and is always encouraging me in my endeavors and I love them so much for that.”
“I write short stories, often commissioned by furries. These commissions are sometimes about their fursonas, sometimes about recognizable characters from popular media, and sometimes about characters I make up for the story. My only work right now is by and for furries and is wholly online where I can be as open as I want. But absolutely no one knows, as friends and family have shown their disdain for furries enough that I’m not willing to play that game.”
“In professional and formal settings I am not open about my work as a NSFW artist. But with friends and some of my more progressive family members I am very open with my NSFW artwork.”
“I work for an amazing science and surplus store. While I do normal store things like stock merchandise and check people out, I also help draw our signs and displays, build props and craft decorations for themes and events, and generally have a blast doing it. We sell all sorts of weird interesting fun things, and random components and materials. It’s a neat place to work! I’ve also been an artist for years. I’m pretty open about what I draw, though I will tailor my responses when I’m talking to strangers. My work knows about it and doesn’t care.”
Can Being Openly Furry Be Potentially Harmful to Job Prospects?
Throughout the history of the fandom, there has been an underlying current of anxiety about the potential of one’s furry hobby causing real harm to job prospects. Opinions on this were mixed, but a common refrain was that there are a lot of factors to consider such as industry and culture dynamic, but it’s always wise to remain professional at work and to keep things strictly on topic while job-seeking. It’s up to the individual to decide how open they eventually want to be, and whether or not it’s relevant or even worth it.
“I don’t necessarily think so, no. It’s all about how you carry yourself and how well you work with others that’s usually the defining factors in job prospects. I do think certain aspects of it should be mostly separated from the workplace though. Having people know you are a furry is fine, but acting like the workplace is a furry con and expecting every coworker to cater to you for that isn’t.”
“Yes, but not with everyone. A recruiter who’s unfamiliar with furries may have a knee-jerk reaction and are often looking for reasons to narrow their candidate pool. We also run into a lot of preconceptions and prejudices which, even if it has gotten better, can still turn unpleasant in a hurry.”
“Yes and no. Depending on how serious the job you’re going for/are in. Unfortunately there is a lot of stigma around furries. So if you’re unable to educate the employer on what we are and what we do, they could carry on that false negative notion and thus consider you negatively. But if you’re in a job that’s more laid back and where you’re more able to educate your coworkers/superior, it’s fine. I feel as though it depends on the people too. Convincing closed-minded people of something they consider strange is a lot harder than someone more open-minded.”
“Back when I was starting out my career, it was widely known that furry=career death. I know things have softened up a lot since then, but some feelings are hard to shake. The older I get the less of a damn I give. Also I think there was a lot of toxicity in the animation industry in Los Angeles at that time, and the cutthroat competition that I saw for jobs, fellow artists would look for any reason to blacklist you. Lately I’ve seen less of that and more artists helping each other, so that’s nice.”
Something that was not overtly asked in our survey but was still heavily referenced in a number of responses is the close connection between furry and the queer community. As a very LGBTQIA+ friendly space, furry has become a relatively safe and accepting environment for people to relax and be themselves. In reading through everyone’s comments, there was a noticeable overlap between scenarios where people who didn’t feel safe to be openly queer at work definitely didn’t feel safe to reveal their interest in furry.
“Yes. Unfortunately the current social climate is hostile to queer and especially trans people, and furry is seen as an acceptable proxy for that prejudice. I firmly believe that furry should be treated like any other hobby or lifestyle choice, but there is still a negative stigma attached to the fandom.”
“Probably. People are bigoted and launder anti-queerness through anti furriness. Always have.”
“It can be, but only in professional situations where being openly queer would be an issue as well given that furry is pretty explicitly queer friendly.”
“I think an important question to ask yourself is if your workplace is a safe space for folks in the LGBTQIA+ community. If the answer is no, furry probably isn’t, either.”
Key Survey Takeaways and Some Words of Advice from Other Furries
While this survey gave us a snapshot of how others are balancing their furry and professional lives, this represents only a very small sampling of the broader furry community, which consists of thousands of individuals all over the world. We were pleased to hear that there appears to be a growing acceptance by the general public toward furries as more net-savvy individuals who have grown up alongside various online fandoms enter the workforce. This leads us to conclude that being openly furry is not necessarily the career-ender that many folks fear.
As for whether or not it’s ok to be openly furry at work, the unsatisfying but genuine answer is: it depends. Despite an increasing positive public sentiment towards furries, there is still enough of a social stigma where being openly furry could be risky depending on a multitude of factors such as industry, demographics, job responsibilities, politics, and more. But that certainly doesn’t mean it’s impossible to blur the lines between the furry and the mundane. In fact, most of our respondents were very encouraging, stating that like with any hobby, being furry is only a big deal if you make it out to be, what ultimately matters is how well you do your job.
To expand upon this, we asked our respondents to leave us with some parting words of wisdom, “What advice would you give to someone worried about work finding out they’re a furry?”
“The reality is it’s a gamble. Sadly, there are people that will discriminate based on what you post on social media; not even exclusively furry related. I’ve been privy to situations where [my company] couldn’t hire this person because they posted a photo of them partying on their Facebook. My only advice is be mindful of what you post BUT IMHO if the company is judging you on innocent Fandom interests/posts (furry, cosplay, etc), that company IS NOT worth working for.”
“Being open about being furry may seem daunting, but when it happens organically, it shouldn’t be cause for concern. If you’re a good person, a solid employee that people get along with and like to work with to begin with, they’ll accept that this is just a weird part of you. Every person’s situation may be different, since we all have different jobs and coworkers, but these days, furry is more normalized, and most people are just trying to get by and deal with their job.”
“Understand that there’s a time and place for everything, which includes certain aspects of your lifestyle and social life. However, if you do your job well and to expectations, then most job environments will naturally care less about what you do in your spare time.”
“Avoid being too open about it until you KNOW what kind of individuals you have around you. I tend to compare it to various LARP and Cosplay things and then uninformed individuals tend to understand it a lot better. Turn the table, ask your coworkers about their dedicated hobbies. Muscle cars and bodybuilding is a thing for some people, why not let them flaunt it as well and divert the odd into being pretty good and special.”
“Most folks will only think it’s as weird as you do. Keep things appropriately high level for your audience. Gauge interest in the topic. Keep it work appropriate. It’s normal to talk about what you did over the weekend”
“You’re in full control of what personal information you share with your coworkers. You can be as specific or as vague as you want about any aspect of your life. You don’t have to be an open book to thrive at work, nor do you have to be a complete enigma to protect your privacy.”
As for how many furries are secretly running the internet, 33% of the furries who took the time to answer our survey work in IT-related fields, so you’ll have to make your own conclusions.
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