Q:
Deciding what you want to be when you grow up can be a tough decision when you’re in high school. How did Johnson & Johnson’s “A Day in Modern Industry” program help expose kids to different careers?
A:
Margaret Gurowitz, Chief Historian: The company launched the teen-focused program in 1947, with the idea to invite local high school students to spend a day at Johnson & Johnson so they could learn about different careers available in business and the connection between those careers and their education. It was a new concept then—and decades ahead of its time.
The program was the brainchild of a Johnson & Johnson employee named Vincent Utz, a World War II veteran who joined the company in 1945 as Supervisor of Employee Activities. Utz was well-known for embodying the values of Johnson & Johnson’s Credo , the company’s guiding mission statement, which includes a tenet on its responsibility to the local community.
Each spring, starting in May 1947, between 200 and 300 teens came to Johnson & Johnson from schools near New Brunswick, New Jersey, where the company was—and still is—headquartered. The day began with a group briefing in which the students got an overview of the company and its different divisions; they then split into groups and shadowed employees working in careers they might want to pursue.
Johnson & Johnson staffers from all over the company were involved, including scientists, lawyers, accountants and those working in the manufacturing and shipping departments. One lucky student even got to shadow then-CEO General Robert Wood Johnson for the day, experiencing firsthand what it takes to run a company.
“A Day in Modern Industry” was such a success that it was covered by hundreds of news outlets, including The New York Times, Forbes Magazine, WCBS and ABC. As a result, other companies soon wanted to try the program—and Johnson & Johnson even published a manual for other businesses to follow.
Although the program ended at Johnson & Johnson in the 1950s, Utz’s concept of giving young people the chance to try out a career for a day lives on at the company.
In addition to celebrating Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day each April, we have a program within the company called Bridge to Employment . It helps young people navigate the gap between high school and employment in the healthcare field by providing them with career coaching and job shadowing opportunities at Johnson & Johnson locales around the world.
When you’ve been innovating for over 135 years …
