The cost of discrimination to American business and industry is thirty billion dollars annually, Elmo Roper warns in a new pamphlet issued today by the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Mr. Roper, nationally reputed analyst of public opinion, marketing trends and employee attitudes, presents his warning in an 18-page booklet entitled” The High Cost of Discrimination.” On the basis of research conducted over the past 12 years, he concludes that “any firm which does not hire on merit and merit alone is not only guilty of injustice but of woeful extravagance as well.”
Decrying the huge loss in billions to our economy every year he says that discrimination in employment wastes “ten dollars out of every $75 paycheck on the phony luxury of indulging in our prejudices.”
Though the cost of discrimination today is a “woeful extravagance,” its days are numbered, thinks Mr. Roper, who optimistically forecasts its abolition in 25 years. “By 1980,” he predicts, “industrial concerns will no longer even think in terms of race, religion Dr nationality when they hire or promote their employees. The days of discrimination in this country are numbered.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
