Project

• Overview / Forward

The 1960s saw growth, civil unrest, the Vietnam war as well as Boomers entering the workforce in the largest numbers in history. Assassinations during the decade including Medgar Evers (1963), John F. Kennedy (1963), Malcolm X (1965), Martin Luther King, Jr. (1968), and Robert Kennedy (1968) sparked civil rights legislation and economic reforms that included the birth of Medicare and Medicaid1

The Great Society Legislation led to the lowest US unemployment rate in 1969 (until 2019). There was a significant rise in managerial and clerical jobs, and for the first time, the US Census started tracking the rise of computer specialists. Employers began to work with colleges and universities to offer internships and co-ops.2

In the workplace women were still expected to accept mostly service roles. Secretaries were referred to as ‘girls’, poured their male boss’s coffee and often handled personal chores. The rise of a feminist mindset and powerful activists throughout the decade began to have an impact on gender opportunities.

Personnel departments typically recruited by running newspaper ads that could legally be categorized by gender, race, or religion. Poaching employees from competitive companies by sourcing them directly (versus through a ‘third party’) was considered unethical and, in many instances, was cause for a civil suit.

1960’s Milestones

• 1960 – Civil Rights Act passed.3
• 1960 – Randstad founded.4
• 1960 – JFK sets off ‘Space Race to the moon’…and much more.5
• 1961 – Executive Order 10925 signed establishing Affirnative Action.6
• 1961 – National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) founded.7
• 1963 – Equal Pay Act passed.8
• 1964 – Title VII of the Civil Rights Act passed.9
• 1965 – Voting RIghts Act passed.10
• 1965 – Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) created.11
• 1967 – Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) created.12
• 1969 – Employment Management Association (EMA) was founded.13
• 1969 – ARPA awards contracts to build an ARPANET.14
• 1969 – Project VOLAR) established by President Nixon to study an All Volunteer military.15

References

1. By mid-decade the EEOC was established which theoretically enforced companies to claim to be “equal opportunity employers”.

   Lyndon Johnson’s ‘War on Poverty’ hoped to break the poverty cycle by helping the poor develop job skills, further their education and find work. To do this, he created a Job Corps for 100,000 disadvantaged men. Half would work on conservation projects and the other half would receive education and skills training in special job training centers. In addition, Johnson worked with state and local governments to create work training programs for up to 200,000 men and women. A national work study program was also established to offer 140,000 Americans the chance to go to college who could otherwise not afford it.
   Great Society – HISTORY

2. According to one study however, only 3% of college students completed internships in the 1980s in comparison to 80% of college seniors by 1999.
   A Brief History of the Internship — Taylor Research Group
3. The Civil Rights Act of 1960 established federal inspections of voter polls and punishment for interfering with voting rights.
   Civil Rights Act of 1960
4. Randstad was founded in 1960 by Frits Goldschmeding, a Dutch multinational human resource consulting firm headquartered in Diemen, Netherlands.
   About Us
5. President John F. Kennedy delivered the following challenge to put a ‘man’ on the moon in person before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961 making STEM an inevitable priority. His space race to the moon challenge began:
   “First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”
   Space Exploration pushed engineering to the limits with the Apollo Missions and brought forward the mathematics (and women ‘computers’) needed to accomplish the goal.
   Excerpt: ‘Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs’ | NASA
   15 Game-Changing Women of NASA — Google Arts & Culture
6. President Kennedy’s Executive Order 10925 required government contractors to “take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed and that employees are treated during employment without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin.” It established the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity (PCEEO), which was chaired by then Vice President Lyndon Johnson.
   Executive Order 10925
7. The National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) claims title as the earliest Staffing Industry Trade organization
   History and Mission
8. “The Equal Pay Act of 1963 amended the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex. It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program. In passing the bill, Congress stated that sex discrimination:
   – depresses wages and living standards for employees necessary for their health and efficiency;
   – prevents the maximum utilization of the available labor resources;
   – tends to cause labor disputes, thereby burdening, affecting, and obstructing commerce;
   – burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; and
   – constitutes an unfair method of competition. (nearly 60 years have passed and the issue is yet to be resolved)”
   Equal Pay Act of 1963 – Wikipedia
9. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “forbade discrimination on the basis of sex, as well as, race in hiring, promoting, and firing.” The Act prohibited discrimination in public accommodations and federally funded programs. It also called for the creation of the EEOC
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964
10. The Voting Rights Act prohibited racial discrimination in voting and, more importantly, began empowering underrepresented racial groups to increase their influence to change how opportunity was apportioned.
    Voting Rights Act of 1965
11. The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC) was created to uphold the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this federal agency was established to prevent workplace discrimination and protect civil rights in employment.
    US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
12. Signed into law by President Johnson to protect populations of workers not covered under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, this law prohibits discrimination against workers age 40 or older.
    Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
13. The Employment Management Association (EMA) was, for many years, during its 40 year history the largest organization to represent Recruiting professionals. Merging with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in 1999 with its remaining 5000 members (many of whom chose to remain local rather than join SHRM), the Association was supported for 4 more years until SHRM decided they would focus resources strictly on HR generalists rather than fragment their support across many related disciplines. The EMA had its own national conferences (2 per year), awards shows for best practices, a quarterly magazine and it published annual industry reports on cost per hire and source of hire for many years.
    Breaking the Mold
    Employment Management Association – Overview, News & Competitors
14. The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the U.S. Department of Defense awarded contracts in 1969 for the development of the ARPANET project. The beginning of the Internet as we know it.
    History of the Internet
15. The President’s Commission on an All-Volunteer Armed Force (Project VOLAR) established goals to increase recruiting efforts and retention of enlistees through research and market experimentation over the next four years and, successfully eliminated conscription by 1973.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_VOLAR