|
FLORIDA mama. COMMISSION
OPERATION sacs momma LUNCHEON
JACKSONVILLE, mama
JULY 19, 1961
hr. Gunti, Chairman Brown, member os the Advisory Committee,
My Friends of Florida.
That such a meeting as this should come about is, I think, a
quite remarkable thing. We are gathered here today to kick off a
program in which an agency of our state sets about selling itself and
its services to those who are footing its bill. This is the
initiation of a statewide effort to interest employers in using a
service whose costs they underwrite.
There was no necessity that this program be planned, no legal
requirement that this meeting be called. Rather it is a tribute to
the spirit of progress that Worley Brown and his associates have
brought to the Florida Industrial Commission. They have set about to
revitalize its programs and lift it from the bureaucratic rut in which
it could successfully have drifted for the course of our administration
It gives me a greater satisfaction and pride than my words are capable
of expressing to know that we have enlisted for service in our
government men of Harley's calibre, who need neither legislative
prodding nor headlined complaints to spur them into progressive action.
The desire to broaden our service, to make more effective our
utilization of the tax dollars Florida collects, is strong in every
member of our administrative organization and this is the finest,
strongest, support any governor could have.
I would be unfair if I did not express appreciation to the
Advisory Committee of your fellow citizens and businessmen who have
worked so closely with the Industrial Commission in making this pilot
-2-
program a reality. Their participation, and your attendance here
today, are examples of a wonderful re-awakening of interest in our
'fgovernment that I can see deve10ping in every section of Florida.
It is not my intention, nor the intention of my Administration,
to operate the government of Florida £23 you. We intend to operate
it with you. We want more citizens to participate in more facets of
government and more programs for the betterment of our state than ever
before in our history. Florida's growth will be governed by the pace
its citizens set for it. It will be as great as we make it.
The response to our determination that we work in partnership with
the people of Florida has been outstanding. In tourism, a Steering
Committee composed of representatives of all facets of that industry is
"building a great new dimension to our activities. Working in cooperatim
:aith the Florida Development Commission they are advancing a program
;to bring more people to Florida, make them feel more welcome and cause
them to stay longer than ever before. They have achieved a degree of
unity among the varied interests in this highly competitive field that
I frankly would not have believed possible.
The Florida Council of 100 is another citizens' group contributing
to our growth and economy. In partnership with the Tourism Steering
Committee and the Development Commission they have undertaken, without
Estate funds, but at their own expense, to set up promotional programs
in such specialized areas as the development of Florida tourism among
residents of Europe and Latin America. They are working with the
Development Commission and the Industrial Commission on the promotion
.of new industry and will engate in activities of a specialized nature
{in many other fields, supplementing through what I like to call "citizen
support," the programs of your state government and assisting us to
make each state dollar spent do the work of several.
-l
-3-
These are but two examples, and I could devote my allotted time
to them and to the many others or which we are so proud. Chambers
of Commerce and cities have found that by tying their advertising
dollars in with the state's, each gets more exposure for its money.
And here today we initiate a program designed to give you more service
and at the same time to make better use or existing procedures within
the Industrial Commission.
It is especially apprOpriate that Jacksonville was selected for
this pilot study, or, as Chairman Brown calls it, "the launching pad
for Operation Space."
The basic factors upon which your selection was based are the
diversification of your commercial and industrial operations and upon
the existence of a comprehensive survey conducted here in 1959 which
showed that although there was a general awareness of the existence
or the Florida State Employment Service its utilization was not
widespread.
In addition to these factors, Mr. Brown, Duval County is an
apprOpriate setting because its citizens have proved through their
ambitious programs of modernization that they are ready and willing
to work toward building better working facilities and toward establish-
ing better working methods.
There was a time, and it wasn't so many years ago, that the
Florida State Employment Service was a clearing house for maids,
yardmen and laborers and that its placement of skilled personnel was
on an occasional basis at best.
In those days it served our needs, but that was before we blossomed
forth with space age industry; before the advent of complex equipment
requiring special skills and knowledge and, most important, before
-4-
Florida's great industrial renaissance, the apogee of which has not
yet been reached.
These changes have brought about new needs, new demands by
employers and new methods of determining employee suitability. Plorid
work force is abundant. were it not we could not attract or hold !
employers like the Martin Company at Orlando, whose latest figures i
show ten thousand and ten positions, or meet the needs of the governm
installations such as your own Mayport or the Cape Canaveral missile
center which alone requires more than 23,000 civilian personnel.
Our employment service has not kept pace with the needs of these
new and important contributors to our economy and it has fallen behind
in meeting the needs of established businesses, slipping out of step
with our desires that we not only encourage new industry and expanded
industry but that we do all possible to meet the needs of all whose
buiness contributes to our economy.
We do not want the State Employment Service offices in Florida
to be known as the places people go to collect unemployment. We want
them to be community centers for Job placement and the first places
to which you turn when you seek to fill a vacancy on your staff at
level from Janitorial to executive.
Since a sales Job is involved in interesting you in these servicd'
even though you support them, a slogan was adopted. "Operation SpaceH
is the name of the program and "space" is spelled out in this manner:
S Represents our ability to SUPPLY employers with qualified
I
employees. Modern testing methods used by the Service insure placemei!
of workers with the skills you need and specially trained counselors
serve as an extension of your own personnel department.
P stands for the PLACEMENT of unemployed workers in Jobs for '
which they are best suited. .
-5-
A AROUSING a greater awareness on the part of employers and
employees of the facilities and services offered by your State
Employment Service.
C indicates our desire to CREATE an atmosphere under which the
local employment service office fully functions as the community center
of Job service.
And 8, for the EFFECT greater efficiency on the part of Job
placement personnel within the Employment Service will have in making
this program workable.
The goals of this program, as in any destined for success, are
simple: To match qualified workers to your Job requirements in such
a manner as to be sure that both worker and employer are aware of the
other's needs. We intend to send you more than "warm bodies" and to
be to you more than a mere referral service.
The result of this match-making will be the stimulation of
employment and the reduction of our unemployment benefit payments.
When we out these payments you will feel benefit in the unemployment
compensation taxes you are required to pay and our entire economy will
be bolstered by increasing the volume of buyer dollars in the consumer
market.
The quality of the help offered you by the Service and the
abilities of its personnel exceed, I am sure, that of most lonely
hearts clubs and I know it equals that offered by employment agencies,
public and private, anywhere in the nation.
As you would expect with any program bearing its name, Operation
Space has three stages. The first is an internal one within the
Employment Service centers. Personnel are undergoing specialized
training for the changed approach needed to make this project work and
-6-
sustain its momentum. No longer will your contacts with the employment
service be on a hit or miss basis. An account executive, similar to
. those we have become familiar with in the advertising world, will be
assigned to you to get to know you, to familiarize himself with your
needs and your requirements. He will be, in effect, soliciting your
Job orders and seeing to it that the prospective employees sent you are
matched to your needs and possessed of aspirations compatible with the
T goals of your activity. These account executives, or 30b salesmen if
you prefer, will call on you from time to time so that they may
literally serve as an extension or your own personnel department. They
will be able to work through the 37 strategically located offices of
the Employment Service to conduct a prompt all-Florida man-hunt, if
x need be, to find for you the individuals to meet your needs.
The second stage is in the recruitment of workers. Unemployment
in Florida has passed its peak and is beginning to drop off from its
all-time high of over 128,000 workers. Our spending is on the upswing
' and our future prospects are, I believe, bright. We are now revising
our recruitment programs and building our information files on those
we seek to place in Jobs so that, through testing and specialized
interviews, our placement may better fit the skills and desires of
the individual Job applicant than ever before. This is important,
because even with higher levels of unemployment, many Job openings
are available which need to be filled without delay. We must recognize,
too, the unfortunate fact that as our population increases there will
always be a percentage of the unemployed who do not have the training
? and skills necessary to fill the Jobs growing out of an expanded
economy and which demand highly qualified personnel. Our educational
authorities are turning their attention to this problem and feel that
-7-
through the use of such modern tools of learning as educational
television willing workers can be given the training necessary to
adapt them to specific and Specialized needs of Florida employers.
These efforts are closely keyed to the assistance we offer existing
industries seeking to meet the needs of expansion and new industries
for whom we recruit and test competent workers.
The third stage lies with you, the employers and leaders of the
community. The two stages I have outlined will boost us toward
success. Whether the pregram is, in the parlance of the astronauts,
A-OK, will depend on your availing yourself or its services.
The Employment Service and its parent agency, the Industrial
commission, is prepared to offer you Job referrals, labor market
information, services for the specialized testing of potential employees,
and a variety or helpful statistical information as well as many other
services helpful to your personnel departments. We are going to sell
and to push this program with all the enthusiasm of a Good Humor Man
on his first day on the route. we aren't asking you to pay for these
services -- you already are. We are saying to you, "You've bought
it ~-- how about using it.
with your support and backing, Operation Space in Jacksonville
can become a model for Florida and indeed for the nation. It is a
proper partnership or business and government for the benefit of our
citizens and our economy. I am confident that it will be successful,
and grateful to you for your interest in making it so. Thank you.
PAGE 1
C L .J .-i. c --.. -c -t ....1 -r ----y T -----1 -a 0 1 T a h -: L --C --1 ;_ ---; I up -t -1 ---------, ---1 -------1 -1. .'! .it-i .uil s ------1 -. -----; -.j :.-----...es : ; .---------..--.. -c.; -------
PAGE 2
' .-.-.. .-; -. ----.--..... .------.e: ; -. -. .-: -.. -, e ---.-.---; -. -----------.-. -.L .-------------.. 1 --------. : p.; : --::. -----..--: --.--C --.( ---.. -.. !.i.:". -. -". .; 1--... -...: -;-:. -----::1..c::;-;.. 1,.--.. e .---.-.----.i -.' :-1; ,i". .' ' --
PAGE 3
t .'.3-'. .. .. .: ..1---.'-:Ut' --. -| -t1 -C -: G.. ". 's. 2: -I ry:-, r.:! -.: ---l -a t [ -| PC r -C 10 ; t a s --C C -: -It r I ----a s 2 X I --1 ---.j .-; ::-.':----.C -. _; ----1 .1 x .. -.-I ----.E 3 3 -2 -.[J .C1 C'..C C G .C .C .' -. .' a.-'. .'O --1 .-. -T t .r---1 -..! s --2 .I L |L t 5 -.C 11 sL C G -10.. t -.. -.i: C ..1 -----.L 1 t ] 9 1 --. --.--1 --. ----11.o.: -:n ---: ---1 ----.--1. .---. eL:.s. --
PAGE 4
.9.'. -.. -C T '.'. 9 ---1 -.---r -: : --;. : --i ---1 --.--C -1 : -C C ---r:-.C ---.1 --. C ---.C------10 ---O : ---..r C. -: 3 -.:-; --.. i--.-0 ..: :.7 --i -.; :C -1 .-: 2. .-.-:1--. ------. ---;.-.---.. 8 : -., -.--:, : --.-..-i --; ; .-. --.----.------.; .: :----; -5.e -.. -:..----.:-
PAGE 5
---.: -s::...-. :. -;i -::-... -. ... .---.---., --;.----.. ---;.: .... ...:s -.: .--------: .------; s.r -----! .-.-1. --. s ..--.-----.. .; --.;.-----; --. --:----.5 ----
PAGE 6
-----.------. .! ,-; -1 --------; ----. --------!-.-.. ----1 -----.--r -! ---------; ----;-----E .C .---,------I --0. -: -:.. .e --. --.----------
PAGE 7
s ..r -----.---,---; -----.2 .. -:-e -----;; ---1 -.a .: .. -e--.-; -.---! -t -1 .-----7-------. --------s. .. ... P. -.--: r] ----. ---1C --.-. .-. -..: : ...y -----0 ; ---.------.--. ---
|
