The Philadelphia chapter of the American Jewish Committee reported here today that there was still “a notable absence of Jews from positions of important responsibility in major industrial corporations, business and financial institutions” in the Delaware Valley area, which includes this city.
Jerome J. Shestack and Robert Cushman, co-chairman of the chapter’s community relations committee, who issued the report, said that an examination of the 16 largest industrial corporations in the Philadelphia area showed that less than 1 percent of the 353 officers and high level executives were Jewish, while less than 4 percent of the members of the boards of directors of the firms were Jewish. About 10 percent of the area’s population is Jewish.
With one exception, the report declared, the same low level of Jewish involvement prevails “for the 11 major life insurance and fire and casualty companies, railroads and food chains which are the largest in their field in the Philadelphia area.” The report noted, however, that Jews hold jobs generally in “technical areas” such as engineering, research and development and actuarial departments.
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