Post War Jobs?

Series

Series Name

The March of Time 10th Year

Issue

Issue No.

5

Date Released

25 Dec 1944

Length of issue (in feet)

1581

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Post War Jobs?

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 1

Summary

The March of Time synopsis: Among some fifty million Americans who have jobs today, as among the eleven million in the armed forces, there is a real fear of the upheavals the war’s end can bring. Of the job holders at least eight million may be thrown out of work when war production ceases. Though about five million of these will probably retire form industry, three million will be left to find new jobs, and from the armed forces as many as nine million men and women may return upon demobilisation to be reinstated in old jobs or given new ones.

Post-war planners know that the United States has today an immense industrial establishment, which, if still in operation at war’s end, is capable of providing a peacetime level of employment and prosperity beyond anything America has yet experienced. But if, during the period of reconversion to peacetime needs, production and employment delays the re-opening of the retail and service industries which alone can support many millions, depression may result. Of this potential danger some American communities are having the first foretaste, for the first cancellations of war contracts have already brought the problem of "spot" unemployment. In addition, Government agencies are faced with the task of having to find jobs for returning veterans, who, for some reason or another, are now being discharged form the services at the rate of seventy thousands a month. Some of the problems that business and labour are endeavouring to solve are how demobilisation can be graduated so that returning veterans can be promptly reabsorbed by industry, and how the change-over to production for peace can be accomplished without even a temporary breakdown.

In every case the first step has been to find out how much of a consumer’s market can be expected. Surveys have revealed that millions of Americans are waiting for a chance to buy the new products and new gadgets they have read about - to equip their homes with all the devices they have been told will make life easier and pleasanter, and over a billion dollars is earmarked for household equipment to replace what has been worn out during the war. Behind the U.S. consumer demand, says the film, is a purchasing power of some eighty-four billion dollars in savings, credits and war bonds, but it is realised that unless price controls and rationing are continued for some time after the war this reserve may be consumed by inflation brought on by full pockets and unsatisfied demands. All over the country, during the past few months, business men have been buckling down to the work of research and planning for the crucial days when war production ceases, backed by the present Administration, which realises that the economic welfare of the nation after the war will largely depend on the health of both big and little business, and a resolve that all employable men and women shall find the post-war jobs that will secure for them their self-respect, their living and their nation’s future.

Researcher Comments

This story was included in Vol.10 No.7 of the US edition.

Keywords

Politics and government; Social welfare

Written sources

Fielding, Raymond. The March of Time 1935-1951 (New York, 1978)   p280.
The March of Time Promotional Material   Lobby Card, Used for synopsis

Credits:

Production Co.

Time Inc.