There are a great many things that don’t help you get ahead in the professional world; a club foot for instance. Doesn’t help much in a footrace either.
But that’s not what the article or most commenters are saying. They say only idiots and criminals get tattooed... I’m disagreeing.
No, what it says is that all other things being equal, a person without tats is going to have an advantage over a person with tats.
Per the article:
Have a tattoo? If the answer is “yes,” it’s more likely you’re...
So, it's not what the article said at all. You said, they said, only idiots and criminals get tattoos.
The article says more likely.
If 10% of the people without tattoos were either criminals or idiots, versus 20% of people with tattoos were criminals or idiots.
It doesn't mean that only people with tattoos are criminals and idiots, but that they have a higher chance of being that way.