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Page i of_·_ _ " SCRIPT VISUAL

"'l'!"""""""'-___________________________ When the communit.v welfare is in danger, and when opportunity SLIDE # 1 o;;a_ knocks, it's traditional in Atlanta that businessmen give the most important leadership. Our subject today is loaded with danger and opportunity. SLIDE # 2 This presentation was brought about by five organizations serving our community -- ,mder the leadership of businessmen. Businessmen giv_e intelligent direction toward worthwhile gcals, and they use special abilities to shape effective programs. Their dedication has inspired the support and participation of other vital community elements.



' These organizations are ... SLIDE # SLIDE # SLIDE # .j SLIDE # SLIDE # l:


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'f 5 ' 1 .•. The City of Atlanta .•• ••• The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce ..• ••• The Community Council of the Atlanta Area . • . •.• The Greater Atlanta United Appe al. .. •.• and Economic Opportunit_y Atlanta, Incorporated. _,,,~ �Page 2. of _ _ SCRIPT VISUAL. As Atlanta grows, so grows the need for continued leadership by businessmen. With Atlanta's growth, the very problems these organizations exist to :meet will keep on growing. We want to concentrate on just one of these problem8: JOBS . . . SLIDE# g These organizations are all concerned with jobs. Employment • SLIDE # !J 'f .. ••• and unemployment ... are at the core of their p:rograms • Atlanta's attractiveness as a place to live and do busi.ne s s depends a great deal on the municipal services of the city•.. - schools, water supply, str eets , fire protection and p0lice protection. Local tax funds support the city and fin~.nce these services. Thus, the e}..i :ent and quality of munic~pal ser vices depend on whether ther e i s profitable business activity, and whether our citizens are productively employed •. ! I I ·II SUDE # 0 JQ The Chamber of Commer ce seeks a continually growing busine s s community. It l ooks for growth in industry a.-id jobs .. • which s timul ate trade: And it seeks growth in 'I l I I l community facilities which, . in turn, help bring in more i industry and more jobs. �Page 3 of _ _ SCRIPT VISUAL - The Community Council is a social planning agency. It helps SLIDE # coordinate growth by collecting and analyzing facts, by helping develop programs of community benefit, and by getting sponsorship for needed programs. SLIDE # I? The United Appeal supports agencies with purpo8es related to the social needs of our community ..• in health, rc(:reation, family counseling, and care for children and the agt:J - Filling these social needs is often the key to getting a job, or keeping it. The Urban League and Goodwill Industries are ~ .' o United Appeal agencies with functions directly related to jobs. Si.,IDE # j~ Economic Opportunity Atlanta, Incorporated, br j_r1gs t c:;ether all segments of the city in a concerted effort agai nst p0verty. E-0-A coordinates and channels services to the ·poor, and starts new services for needs which ar en 't being met. E-0-A tries to help people help themselves ••• to make them c ont r ibuting members of s ociety••. and t o break the vicious ···cycle of poverty that becomes m ore serious with each generation. �Page_!j_of _ _ SCRIPT VISUAL There are many other agencies which offer services in the field of employment and unemployment. The organizations ,~ we mentioned work closely with a number of them, sharing information, facilities and ideas. You probably are fa.--niliar with the programs of thes e other agencies, or :1erhaps have I participated in one of the programs. To name just a fP.W of I I· ., I • ,>. SLIDE# II: these agencies ..• ••• The State Employment Servic e of the Georgia Denartment of Labor ... our vocational schools ... Family and Children's Services ... the VocationE.l Rehabilitation Division of the State Department of Education ... the m anpower and apprPriti ce training programs of the U. S. Department of Lc1hor . There are other organizations , mor e recently es tablished, which concentrat e thei r efforts on a particular phase of ' Atlanta' s employment. For example . . • the Atlanta Employers Voluntary Merit Employment Association, which is a group of businessmen with a mutual desire t o halt discrimination practices in employment . �Page of - - - SCRIPT VISUAL ' SIJDE # S /EI Often ~ several of these organizations will pool their resources in a cooperative effort. A recent example was the Employer Workshop on Manpower Resources, held in late November through the efforts of three organizations -the Chamber of Commerce, the Merit Employfoent Association, and the Georgia Department of Labor. Its purpose wa:; to help


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employers evaluate all the available manpower :::-.:--~ources and employability programs against their own job requh·aments. SLIDE It is obvious, then, that these organizations recoi;n.i"?:e their community responsibilities in employment. It is app3.rent, too, from the programs and activities under v-:2.y, that something is being done tc:r help get our unemployed people on the job. The need for continued business leadership is equally clear. None of these organizations, individually or collectively, claims to have all the answers to unemployment. And no one yet has solved the problems that cause unemployment. I ' 1• �• Pag~_b_or _ __ SCRIPT VJSUA~ We can't promise all the answers, either. But our purpose, during the next few minutes, is to luok at some of the facts •.. raise some questions .•. and provoke some thinking among · this group that, perhaps, will lead us toward some of the answers. SLIDE # ~ I1 Specifically, let's try to determine the extent of the problem in Atlanta. .,I Let's examine the problem as it directly affects businessmen, and arldresses itself to the program s of our i community org::rniz2tions. I i Begin by stating the problem in its simplest t enns : ' -I I ! SIJDE In our community, jobs are goinr; unfilled. At the same time, people are unemployed. This may seem a paradox•.. but we know it i s not a new situation, nor is it peculiar to Atlanta. There've always been people out of work. And, except during depressions, there've always been jobs open for willing, qualified workers. This is true in every economy which provides employment for a great �P a g e l of _ _ I: SCRIPT VISUAL . number of people ... even in a market as healthy as Atlanta's today. So we're looking beyond the normal and commonplace. We want to talk about what we can do after the pool of qualified workers runs out and some of the jobs are still unfilled. W/3 need to consider people who aren't working because of limited education or none at all ... physical handicars . . . not - enough skill or motivation ..• or combinations of' these thi;i.gs. SLIDE# I 'f It's elementary that unemployment can have a bad effect on the economic health of the community. But bring it c1-}ser to home by asking this question: What is my duty, as a citiz~n, to try to cut down the high cost of public maintenance of our people who aren't productively employed? ·, i' ' I I: I' Turn the question around: What is my opportunity, as a businessman, to strengthen our markets and economy by j, helping convert a big tax drain into purchasing power and J' t; SLIDE# 20 t axable income? Suppose we could somehow add 100 dollars a month to the incomes of all the Atlanta families which now �, - -- - --- Page -<g- of - - SCRIPT VISUAL - - ----------------"'tl""~--------------,,-,..----------~ai-==> earn less than 4, 000 dollars a year? This would increase the purchasing power among these pe_ople__Qy more than 95 million 1,,--""' dollars a year. SLIDE# zI But perhaps the most important dimension to be examined is this: Wnat effect will unemployment and underemployment right now have on Atlanta's growth potential? In shcrt, ~hat about tomorrow? SLIDE # i. i. Compared to other parts of the country, Atlanta ha~ :-e!:itively little unemployment. We ofteZJ. brag about our low rate ••• which is officially 2-point-5 per cent , SLIDE# 'Z. 3 Part of the reason for this low rate is Atlanta's key position in the Southeast .• • a region which has had a lion's share of the nation's postwar economic growth. We can also thank pr ograms such as Forward Atlanta, thr ough which Atlanta' s business leade r ship has ' been im aginative and aggres sive in getting the share we des erve · of the nation's growth. �Page of --- SCRIPT VISUAL \e«nZZTi SLIDE# t 'f se P:&?-w.;.:r:n::=:;;;;;;;r:;· - In a full economy, the qualified, willing job-seeker can find work. By almost any standard, 1967 and several years previous have been years of full economy in Atlanta. Retail sales, effective buying income, and other economi0 indicators have been moving steadily up. Certainly, we can't blame unemployment on any lack of health in the Atlanta economy . i !l ., SLIDE


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t,} We said our unemployment is comparatively small .•. by official measurement. Yet, for a number of reasons, we cannot afford to minimize it. For one, we know that there are rr.a11y others who are less than fully employed but who aren't counted with the 2. 5 per cent. They don't fit the statistical definitic:: of unemployed. SIJDE # '2" No one is certain how m:any people are in this category. And we can only wonder how many children are growing up to .Jarry on -f,....,•,\'i traditions of poverty, ignorance, poor health, idleness, and willing •' ' or unwilling dependence on public and private doles . I SLIDE# ,, j 21 Our population has grown. In 1967, the 2. 5 per cent represents thousands more people ·than iCdid ten years ago. �r I [ Page /0 Ii of _ _ .I I SCRIPT . VISUAL More people live in cities today. They are easier to count, put in categories, and observe. In a rural environment, .. there are more ways to subsist without formal emplo~rment. We are familiar with some o~ the c auses of unemployment, and some of them stem, in part, from the very affluence we ! I I . have described. Minimum qualifications for some jobs are rising faster than the aven.ge educational attainment. SLIDE # 2i · There are problems of health, housing and even transportat!on, and there are deserted mothe.rs ti ed to the care of deserted children. No one can say positively how much effect ar..y ~n e of these things is having on unemployment. If we could'be sure, effective solutions might be easier to develop. But these things are certain: I i• �Page J I of -- SCRIPT VISUAL SLIDE#~ Thousands of people in Atlanta don't earn enough to support th~mselves and their families. They are PEOPLE NEEDING JOBS •.• the 2. 5 per cent, others who aren't being counted officially, and some others who have jobs but are underemployed or underpaid. ' Employers in Atlanta's dynamic economy cannot always find all the skilled people they need to help run their businesses. This is the other category... JOBS NEEDING PEOPLE. SLIDE# Ji And .• ~ Unemployment is waste ..• a waste of productive effort ... a waste in terms of unrealized consumption of goods and services. It's a drag on growth, and, under some condition.::; ..• SLIDE# ,, q


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!: 3'? ••• Unemployment can stop growth in its tracks. That is a blunt statement which deserves to be documented. �Page I'2. of -- SCRIPT VISUAL Some alarming facts with a great deal of bearing on our subject were developed by the city's Community Improvement Program ... the C-I-P. Part of the C-I-P study dealt with the number of jobs in certain categories, and projections of i i. whn.t the situation will be in 1983, if present trends continue. SLJ.DE # . SLli.JE # -::, -:::, ~ For example, in 1983, there will be 515,000 jobs in the (\..... City' of Atlanta. j~ Nearly four out of ten of these nev-i jobs in the city will be ~ That's 48 per cent more than in 19G5, in our Central Busi.ncss District. This means 64, 000 more people will be employed in our Central City .•• the downtown ~rea. SLIDE* 3S Most of these new jobs will be in five main categories: GOVERNMENT, FINANCE, INSURANCE, AND REAL ESTATE, with about 10,000 jobs in each group, and RETAILING, with about 5 , 000 jobs. �Page~of _ _ ' SCRIPT VISUAL None of these new jobs will be in manufacturing, wholesale trade or distribution. The Central City won't gain in this kind of employment. Jobs in GOVERNMENT, FINANCE, INSURAi~CE, REAL ESTATE, AND RETAILING; •• WHITE COLLAR JOBS. Now consider another sE:t of facts from the C-I-P 5tudy••• facts about population, "l SLIDE# J6 By 1983, the Negro population of the City of Atl~ta will increase by 62 per cent .•. the white populatio<" by 4 per cent. SLIDE#~ Forty-five per cent of the Negro population wi11 be in the age group of 20 to 54. MORE THAN HALF will be under 20 i " or over 54. J 1, '. SLlDE # 3~ From another phase of the C-I-P study comes this projection: I In 1983, about 32,000 Negro families living in the city will �Pagej_!f_of _ _ SCRIPT VISUAL have family income of LESS THAN THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS. About 45,000 Atlanta Negro families will have incomes of less than $5,000 a year. Put some of these facts together to see what they imply: SLlDE # j~


FIRST •.• job growth will be in white collar oc:-·, .pations .


SECOND ••• our population ""'ill be made up of the pec,ple who, by current standards, are LEAST qualified for white collar jobs. SLIDE# '-fj THIB.D••• downtown retailing will be supported by a preponderance of families with poverty-level incomes . . • families with very little to spend in retail stores. SLIDE# lf? And FINALLY ••• Atlanta's growth potential will be impossible to realize unless established trends are changed. �Page - /~ of -~- SCRIPT VISUAL SLIDE f r ~ Th0se facts make it easier to understand the disturbing statement of a few minutes ago ... that UNEMPLOYMENT CAN STOP GROWTH IN ITS TRACKS. ,Therein lies our challenge ... the challenge to Lezin now _c hanging some of these conditions which, in turn, will help reverse or slow some of the undersirabie, trends. As we begin to realize the size of the problem, ot~er questions demand answers. \Vho are the PEOP::::...E involved? SLIDE# lf"Y Do we need -- or can we get -- an accurate p!"ofiie: of our unemployed population? There is some data available to help us find a s tarting point. SLIDE# lf5 One example of s uch data.. is a study bas ed on interviews with 47,000 people, between 16 and 75 years old , living ,l. . l. �.. Pagej__b_of _ __ SCRIPT VISUAL in poverty neighborhoods. These interviews were conducted about 18 months ago through 12 neighborhood centers of the E-0-A. Here's what the study found out about these 47,000 people: SIJDE # L/ b ••. 77 per cent earned less than $3,000 a year. SIJDE # 'f1 .•• 52 per cent of all households were headeL --:;y women. SLIDE # 4g SIJDE # Lf-~ ..• 57 per cent of the adults did not graduate from !ugh s chool. SLIDE# 50 • .• 5 per cent had a fourth grade education or lc :::; s. SIJDE # SI .• ·• 7 per cent had no form al education at all. SLIDE # S2 ••. 12 per cent needed m edical aid to r emove a wo!'l( handicap. SLIDE # SJ • •. 11 per cent claimed no job skill, or orJy farm wor k as ., .•• 82 per cent were Negroes. exper ience. SIJDE # S'f •.• 2 per cent were 65 or older • . ,... .:. .. Of all those s eeking work, 65 per c ent were Negro women. About two out of three said they would like to have more i .j: I! vocational training in hopes of improving their lot. �Page IJ of _ _ SCRIPT VISUAL A composite would be difficult to draw. But look at two case histories: A typical case ••. A woman, 33, divorced, mother of four children. She has a seventh grade education. Works 2.s a maid and makes 28 dollars a weak. Pays 12 dol14rG of that for a three-room apartment. Her children are left alone while she works because day care would cost two-thL.ds of her weekly salary. SLIDE# .Sb Another case, less typicr.l but just as real. •• A young man, 22. Completed the fifth grade iil a rural school. He is married to a young woman who completed the third grade. They are expecting a child soon. They live with his sister and her five children ••• eight persons in four roo:ms. He has worked as a delivery boy and busboy, averaging a uollar an hour. He has serious p r oblem s with a loan company . j: �Page / 0 of _ _ SCRIPT VISUAL These two have jobs, of sorts, for the time being. But thei:,: future is uncertain and prospects are poor that they ~ \.!Ja\ ever hold jobs at a level much higher. The;y lack the skill and educational attainment to fill some of the vacancies which we know exist. For instance, the ,i . State Employment Service reports a large unfilled demand l for several job skills •.. SLIDE


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••• Comptometer operators, stenographers, secretaries, typists, telephone operators, file clerks, cashiers, key I ·I p:!.nch operators, draftsmen ... not the sort of jobs to be I filled by a fifth-grade drop-out, or by an untrained domestic. SlJDZ # sg There are other types of jobs requiring l ess skill, which still have a demand greater than the supply of people to hold them: Food service and preparation, hotels and motels, . building maintenance, and repair and installation work. -· �Page / Cf of --- SCRIPT VISUAL Meanwhile, look what's happening ir. another job · SLIDE


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category: Common labor. From 1950 to 1960, the number of employed laborers in Atlanta went down by almost 13 per cent, or 2, 600 jobs. The pace of automati on continues to h ave its effect in c0natrudi0n and other industrie s using laborers. SLIDE# fo O , By contrast, in the sd.Ille IO-year-period, clerical workers increas ed by 22, 000, or 43. 5 per cent. SLIDE# ' ! Professional and technical workers went up by 18,000 jobs, or 70 per cent • . SLIDE# ,2. Machine operators -- up by 2 , 000 , or 30 per cent. So the r ecord is one of steady upgrading. It is a r ecor d of pr ogress , and industry c an be proud of it . While employers are t raining and pr om oting workers for m ore demanding, higher paying j obs, vacancies are being created for new employees. �Page


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of -- SCRIPT VISUAL ,!obs .9.2 exist, and they need to be filled. Some manufacturing jobs, for instance, haven() minimum requirements for education or experience, and the employer bears the expense of training. This not only emphasizes the need for workers, but it is also further evidence of the employer's willingness to help meet the problem ... especially when programs SLIDE# {oJ such as on-the-job trair1ir.g can help an employer match people with the jobs he needs to fill. Without such efforts, the gap would be even greater than it is today, and it would be widening even faster . SLIDE # ~Lf Let's examine our job m arket for other barriers which can s eparate !l. given individual from a given job. Som e of the se bar r ier s will always be ther e . They a re the requirements which r epresent the initial effort by the employer ' j to screen applicants . •• to make ·his i:ecruiting and interviewing ' - - ---- ----·-·--·--- �Page 2 {_ of _ _ SCRIPT VISUAL more efficient. The employer has needs for competence and reliability, skill and stability. For all his generosity, compassion, civic-mindedness or whatever, the employer cannot ignore these needs •.. if he is to stay in business. There are other barriers, leas prevalent today, which are merely extensions of attitudes. You're familiar with the kind of barriers we mean. You've seen them in help wanted ads, in job orders placed with employment services, and in the personnel policies of many business organ:!.::: ativns. SLIDE# ,s ..• Must be 21 or over •• , ••• Experienced only ..• . SLIDE # (.,,{,, .•. White only ••• • • • Colored ••• • • • Must be high school graduate ..• j ! �Page 22 of _ _ SCRIPT VISUAL ••. Men only.. . • • • Not over 50 .. . SLIDE


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••• Must be free to travel. .• • • • Military duty completed .•• • • • Car necessary•.. And so on, As we suggested earlier, certain jobs will always have requirements that not everyone can meet, particularly jobs which demand a high degree of skill, aptitude , ,)r training. These requirements are realistic standards .•. not arbitrary barriers in the sens~ of others w~ wentioned. We can find tangible evidence of employers taking the lead in removing some of the arbitrary ones. Many jobs today are being literally thrown open by the use of other words and phrases which are becoming more and more familiar: �' I Page 4fo &, g For example .•• Men or women. SLIDE# &'i Equal Opportunity Employer. SLIDE SLIDE# ( 0 No experience necessc!ry. 1 I Disabled person welcome • SLIDE# ~ of - - SCRIPT VISUAL . 2·2..> ... Prefer retired man .•• Will train ... And many others. Keep in mind that tha employer also has barr iers ... legal barriers which discou:;.:age or prevent the hiring of some people for certain joi>s. Women have been given full equality in employment ... as long as they don't have to lift over 30 poum:s. P11ysical canditi 0ns make some persons a bad r:!.sk .. • because the e:mpl.:;yer can't afford to assume the Worlanen's Compensation liability which the law says he must. You can see that progress is being made in meeting Atlanta's SLIDE# 12. problem •••this paradox of shortage on one hand, and surplus on ~e other ••• the puzzle of people and jobs, which don't always match. �2 'i Page of - - - SCRIPT VISUAL The gains haven't been spectacular. We can't promise that the solutions are just around the corner. But it's to the credit of our business leadership that we can cite these signs of progress .•• evidence that the job is at least begun. SLIDE# 73 Only through the continued leadership of our busine~srr.en.:. their ideas, talents, and energies ... channeled through these community organizations and others ..• can we hope to find those solutions. (-PAUS E) We began a few minutes ago on the premise that many people are not working at a time when our economy needs workers. We've seen who these people are, and in gE:ni:>.ral terms, what separates them from self-sufficiency and usefulness. We've presented some facts we all must recognize if this problem is to be met intelligently and with purpose. --· �Page &S of _ _ SCRIPT VISUAL - ----------~""!F"""-------~------------~=~· Ann we have tried to be realistic about our alternatives: That,unless something iE; done, it is possible that there will be no b2sic change in this situation within our generation. SLIDE# 14- If we C:?JU1ot absorb today's parents into the productive side of the economy, what of their children? Can the high school drop-out of 1967 ex--pect a better future than the almost hop.eles.s situation he faces today? Can Atlanta afford to leave him hopeless? (END OF SLIDE NARRATION) IJGHT2 ON ••• MODERATOR TAKES OVER FOR CONCLUSION. �