Project

• Overview / Forward

The attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, marked the US entry into WWII. During Wartime, there were very compelling job ads created to call our country to action and support the war. The most abundant jobs were related to the armed forces, its war effort, and agriculture.

Women were widely employed and their skills were valued…because female talent was needed while men were away at war. Recruitment agencies most likely benefited most from this need to fill gaps in the workplace and to support the war efforts.1

The birth of the recruitment as an industry thus began in the 1940’s as large numbers of placement agencies and advertising agencies formed to specialize in servicing ‘non-conscripted’ workers. 

After WWII, recruitment took a leap forward when “placement officers” from a growing number of agencies, helped returning soldiers and veterans find jobs. This is thought to have led to the term “headhunting” as recruiters switched from blue-collar placements to more white-collar searches.2

1940’s Milestones:

• 1940 – Smith Act3 
• 1943 – Magnuson Act (Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act).4
• 1944 – Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI Bill).5
• 1946 – Employment Act of 1946.6
• 1946 – Kelly Services founded.7
• 1947 – Walling v. Portland Terminal Co.8
• 1948 – Executive Order 9981.9
• 1948 – American Society for Personnel Administration founded10
• 1948 – Robert Half founded11
• 1948 – Manpower, now ManpowerGroup, founded12
• 1948 – GE sponsored Campus Recruiting Conference13

References

1. “Rosie the Riveter,” – Recruitment Branding at its best. ‘the female percentage of the U.S. workforce increased from 27 percent to nearly 37 percent during WWII, and by 1945, nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home.’ 
   American Women in World War II – HISTORY
2. These Placement Officers, now working in larger Agencies, helped veterans find jobs and, with specialized marketing profiling every class of worker the recruitment industry was forever changed.Non-digital source: Employment Service Review Journal. Alkire, R.S. Vol. 14. January, 1947. (p. 19-20)
3. The Smith Act, also known as the Alien Registration Act, required all non-US residents to register with the government.
   Smith Act – Wikipedia
4. The Magnuson Act allowed Chinese immigrants to enter the US and for some residents to become citizens.
   Repeal of Chinese Exclusion (1943) – Immigration History
5. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act ( G.I. Bill) was created to provide WWII veterans financial assistance for tuition, housing, and unemployment. The tuition benefit led to 7.8 million veterans, (mostly white) going to college.
   https://bit.ly/3yqPbfT
   Unfortunately, while the GI Bill’s language did not specifically exclude African-American veterans from its benefits, 1.2 million Black veterans were ultimately denied the benefits, wealth creation and education leading to better jobs that their white counterparts received by banks, real estate agents and college admission officers.
   How the GI Bill’s Promise Was Denied to a Million Black WWII Veterans
   The graduating veterans sparked an enormous growth to placement activity with many regional associations being created in North America: the Rocky Mountain College Placement Association, 1947; the Southern College Placement Association, 1948; the Middle Atlantic Placement Association, 1948; the Midwest College Placement; 1949; the Southwest Placement Association, 1949; the Western College Placement Association, 1951, and the University Counseling and Placement Association (formed in Canada,1952).
6. With soldiers returning home from war and the economy transitioning from wartime production and goods, Congress signed the Employment Act in which the federal government took responsibility for helping workers find jobs.
   Employment Act of 1946
7. Kelly Services is started in MI to staff light industrial and electrical jobs
   Our Company Background – About Us | Kelly
8. Walling v. Portland Terminal Co was decided by the Supreme Court and determined that ‘trainees’ did not have to be paid.
   Walling v. Portland Terminal Co. :: 330 US 148 (1947) :: Justia US Supreme Court Center
   The Dept. of Labor then created a six-point test to determine differences between unpaid trainees and interns.
   https://bit.ly/3bGBxeF
9. President Truman ends segregation in the US military by signing Executive Order 9981.
   https://www.archivesfoundation.org/documents/executive-order-9981-ending-segregation-armed-forces
10. The American Society for Personnel Administration (ASPA) was founded in 1948 by a group of just 28 individuals. It eventually became The Society for Human Resource Management in 1989. (See 1989 – SHRM)
    https://willamette.edu/org/shrm/about/index.html
11. Robert Half founded to focus on temporary hiring in finance and accounting, legal, creative and marketing, technology and administrative fields
    Half’s Company History and Accolades
12. Manpower was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1948 by attorneys Elmer Winter and Aaron Scheinfeld. Manpower began with a common idea still driving startups to this day— Winter and Scheinfeld needed a typist to work on a deadline project but were unable to source a substitute on a temporary basis.
    History: Over 65 Years of What’s Humanly Possible
13. GE’s Campus Recruiting event for recruiters from major firms and selected university “placement officers” to connect with graduating students.eventually led to the founding of the College Placement Council (CPC) which was to  become the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
    NACE Organization History