The Jewish Vocational Service here said today it will test the announced readiness of some major Chicago firms to offer equal opportunity employment, by bringing Jewish job applicants to the attention of such firms. The project was announced as a first step to broaden the scope of the agency’s summer work scholarship program for college students, in cooperation with the Chicago Bureau on Jewish Employment Problems.
Vernon Fox, an official of the vocational agency, said that many of the larger companies in Chicago “have been trying very hard to establish themselves as ‘equal opportunity employers.’ JVS has determined that one problem facing such companies is a lack of applicants of the Jewish faith.” He added that Jewish students and graduates were staying away from such firms, due to a belief that the firms barred Jews. He called such beliefs a reflection of “conditions and thinking that were more appropriate several decades ago.”
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