St. Paul recorder., 1963-08-15
Whife Workers Claim
Employers Now Show
Negroes FoVorfiSm

matchmaking subsidiary. Adds
Robert S. Margolis, Dayton, Ohio,
retailer who has been working for
the employment of more Negroes
in Dayton stores: ANY cases of
reverse discrimination are far off
set by the cases of discriminatory
practices against Negroes) in the
past"
Western Electric's View
Understandably, some firm S
bride at the suggestion they are
practicing reverse discrimination
ITO some people it might look
like we're discriminating in re-
verse, but this has no basis In
fact" says a Western Electric
spokesman. There was room for
improvement in the hiring Of Ne
groes, and there is further room"
In the past two years the number
of Negroes on Western Blectric's
payroll has risen 16%; the COM
pany's total employment has in
creased only So over the same
span.
However they may describe what
they are doing, many companies
are actively trying to recruit more
Negroes. Richard Clarke, Negro
head Of a New York City employ
ment agency specializing in plac-
ing Negroes in white-coHar jobs,
reports many large concerns are
calling him with rush" orders for
office help. AS a result, his bus
mess is running 50% ahead Of last
year. Mr.. Clarke goes so far as to
say "it might be a slight advant-
age to be a Negro when you're
looking for job here today"
College placement officials con-
firm the stepup in the recruiting
Of Negroes. Nobody comes right
out and says they are looking for
a Negro" says a placement man
at a Midwest college. What they
do is call and say, You know, of
course, we are an equal opportun-
ity employer. IF you should run
into anyone who meets our quail
ifications and he just happens to
be a Negro, send him over. He
won't be Disseminated against
They get the idea across"
Auto Makers Seek Negroes
Auto makers, highly vulnerable
to consumer boycotts, are known
to be seeking more Negro office
and professional employees. Among
the other major companies whose
personnel offices have been going
after Negroes are Lockheed Air
craft Corp, Socony Mobil Oil Co.,
National Distillers & Chemical
Corp. and Lever Bros. Co. Typical
ly, Lever Bros. asserts it has no
quota system and has long had a
policy Of no discrimination in hir-
ing. But, adds a spokesman, re-
Gently the company has actively
made our interest in finding Negro
applicants known to Negro sour
ces."
One big obstacle to all efforts
to broaden job opportunities for
Negroes is a shortage of appli-
cants with the needed sEills -
situation traceable to the fact that
in the past Negroes were largely
barred from many fields and lacked
the means or incentive to prepare
themselves for jobs.
A college placement official says
he has few Negro graduates in ac-
counting and engineering, the
areas Of specialization most sought
by business. Some Negro leaders
concede 1t Is unreaistic to set
quotas Of Negro employees for
skilled construction jobs because
Negroes possessing the required
sldlls are rare. Says a member of
the Chicago Urban Leagues board:
The thing that could blow this
drive quicker than anything else
would be to force Negroes into
jobs for which they have neither
the skill nor the experience"
Continued in Aug. % Edition)