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SOME 52 PER CENT OF JOBBRIDGE participants are currently in paid employment after fully completing their internships, according to a report published by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton.
Burton said the figure was “one of the best outcomes in Europe for work placement programmes”.
“JobBridge was a pillar of the government’s Jobs Initiative,” she said. “It’s goal is to help people seeking emplyment to gain valuable work experience and enhance their prospects of getting a job.”
54.1 per cent of those who undertook their internships in the private sector have secured employment while 49.9 per cent of those who had their placement in the public sector have secured jobs.
The report also showed that the take-up of the scheme has been particularly strong in the SME sector with this sector accounting for 58 per cent of all placements to date.
51.6 per cent of non-graduate interns have secured employment after finishing their placement and 89.3 per cent of interns felt the scheme has given them new skills.
The proportion of interns who failed to complete their placements was high with 3,297 or 59 per cent of participants ending their internship before the scheduled timeframe. However the report said the main reason for early completion was that they secured employment.
One third of participants cited dissatisfaction with their placement as a reason for finishing their internship early.
The Social Protection Minister encouraged employers to consider bringing an intern into their workplace under JobBridge and said she will be examining refinements that could further enhance the scheme.
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So approx 60% don’t finish and only have of those that do get employed. Why don’t they just say that 80% of people do not benefit from this scheme?
Darren 60% don’t finish because they find employment elsewhere.
So the illegal reprehensible contemptible theft of private pensions (not public) was justified? I no more believe this claptrap than that mayo leprauchan on his bailout bullshit,have a nice week.
yeah because offering people internships in exchange for welfare cash is so unbelievably bad. cop on
Welfare cash?what are you jabbering about?it was a raid on private pension funds that is paying for this farce….Snooch.
is it not a condition that you have to be on social welfare to be eligible? is it not marketed as x EUR a week on top of jobseekers? is it not primarily to retrain jobseekers? this raid on pension funds your jabbering on about, how much have we raided? looking at the long term is it beyond the realms of possibility that retraining these people and getting them into employment for a small initial outlay is an investment in the future of the pension reserve as these people will inevitably pay prsi/taxes when in employment.
judge the scheme on it’s merits, not your personal disliking of it .
spin. what percentage of jobridge starters are in paid employment now?
Me for one.
I was a intern in this scheme but left to start out on my own
We have a Jobbridge intern with us and have just offered him a permanent paid job which he has accepted.
Everyone seems to be giving out about this. I am starting a job bridge internship in a fortnight in software development and I am over the moon about it, if I don’t get a job at the end at least I will have valuable experience for my C.V. Also I was informed in the interview that of the ten people on placement before me, nine of them got a full time contract.
Full time contract where??… UK or USA ? If its a case the firm you are doing the internship with took on those 9 people then why doesn’t this firm just take you on now? Oh Im sorry I forgot…. they are taking advantage of the fact you will work full time for nothing for 6 to 9 months
Good luck to you Harry. This is a great opportunity for you and I hope it works out.
Maybe it is worth the company’s time to evaluate people Sean, before they give them important roles in a global business… or maybe they should just move their development centers to Bangalore where wages are much lower, and labor laws are more favorable?…
Software Development, you are joking right? There is a massive shortage of developers in Ireland. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be getting a full job.
Something doesn’t add up with your post.
Seàn, firstly its in Letterkenny in Donegal, secondly, this is a position that requires no experience to be considered a suitable applicant although an associated qualification is required. I am just a recent graduate and I now have the opportunity to enter the job that I wanted from starting college which just wouldn’t have happened if job bridge was not available to me. Considering I got no state funding during college, €250 is not nothing and the work experience I can gain will carry with me should I decide to move farther afield.
Harry, Good luck with that. as someone who has been involved in the hiring of many a graduate, this experience should really stand to you.
The software industry is one of the easiest in the world to further build on a basic degree. Almost all of the necessary education material and resources are available free on the internet.
Any sign of you having shown the initiative will single you out in the interview process. The first 6 to 9 months in a new job as a graduate will be an eye opener for you, as the ‘real’ education begins..
Good luck with it.
Best of luck to you Harry! Hope it goes well!
An “internship” in the local garage shop im afraid is hardly benificial to the majority of graduates.
This scheme will only work if its policed correctly,which it is not, and not let employers gain staff for free rather than just advertise the job in the normal fashion
Grads in tescos stacking shelves!! Joke
Well I’ll be starting a permanent job doing something i love and might never have tried without the scheme and I don’t have a glaring 9 month hole in my cv so I’m extremely grateful to the scheme.
Granted many employers have taken advantage but there are those that haven’t and its given people a chance when employers have needed staff but struggled to be able to pay someone with the economy. A the end of 9 months employers have a trained member of staff ready to go.
It’s not perfect but it has given people a fighting chance when employment prospects for even the most highly experienced and qualified people is next to zero right now – it’s a foot in the door and an opportunity to prove yourself.
scambridge is designed to exploit the unemployed and give employers a ready made slave to use for no pay. Then discard them after 9 months and take on another slave.
Unfortunately the blunt truth.
Hi Chris
I can only speak to my experience but my internship in jobsbridge bares no similarity to what you seem to think it is.
While I agree there may be unscrupulous employers using the scheme to obtain cheap/free labour, my employer was very open to providing me with learning experiences, sending me on training courses and generally expecting me to do good quality work.
At no stage did I feel like I was been taken advantage of or exploited. I do not regret having taken part in it. I was one of the people who left after six months because I had found full time employment, due in no small part for showing the initiative to get up and work for next to nothing to improve myself rather than sit at home and draw the dole and complain that the government don’t do enough to get me a job.
i was exploited by being made to work an extra 10 hours a week for an employer. i made an official complaint to jobbridge, who advised me to stop working for the company. i naturally thought this would be investigated but jobbridge did nothing and allowed him to take on another intern. joke.
Employed in their field of study???/expertise??? That’s very relevant
But that is part of point of Jobbridge – to gain experience in a new field or to upskill. I’ve changed career through mine and cannot say how much that means. I’ve gone from doing something that was a job to finding my vocation.
Every-time a JobBridge candidate gets a full time job, a bondholder is burnt. Not only that but Government Ministers get a bonus supply of Magic Mushrooms!
Jobsbridge is open to abuse,. I know someone got a 6 month internship and then after 6 months rather than hire him they advertised for another 6 month intership so he went off abroad you could say he got experience from it but they could easily have hired him after internship.was up
This is the kernel of the problem. Jobsbridge is being abused and the government have no interest in policing it in any way. While it is an excellent idea to provide young graduates with experience, I have personnel seen adverts by certain employers advertising positions which are simply replacing paid jobs. This is reinforced in the advert which in some cases states that the applicant must have at least four/five years previous experience etc. Jobs bridge is also no use to thousands of unemployed people who while unemployed receive no unemployment payments, as Jobsbridge is now the cheapest way to employ someone unemployed people with no payments must consider a jobs which offer a 40 hour week at a pay rate of €50 a week. There is no Government alternative to this.
Maybe he turned out not to be suitable?
@Glyn – You are not allowed to state a previous experience requirement when placing an advert for an intern with Jobbridge. That’s the point of being an intern, you have no experience in the area.
I am working now thankfully but last year I applied for one of these schemes with a well known consultancy. The position was relatively basic and required a BSc and some surveying experience. I had three years experience at that stage and have a BSc and a MSc. I felt at the time I was over qualified and probably not internship material. Guy in Fas office insisted I apply… or have my dole deducted, so I did. I didn’t even reach interview stage… the person who got the internship, who I know, has a phd and worked in consultancy for 7 years!! This person was better qualified and had more experience than her ‘ mentor ‘ !! She was running projects etc and not getting paid. She said she took the role as she was out of work and couldn’t bear to have a gap in her cv. Granted she got an excellent position elsewhere after 6 months… but just shows the exploitation some firms carry on with… taking on super experienced people under the guise of an intern. I reported this to the scambridge people but heard nothing about it. Yes I agree she was unemployed and eligible but both herself and this firm deprived someone like myself an opportunity to gain project management skills.
Half of them do get employed. Bloody phone!
That still doesn’t make the scheme successful.
Half
An “internship” in the local garage shop im afraid is hardly benificial to the majority of graduates.
This scheme will only work if its policed correctly,which it is not, and not let employers gain staff for free rather than just advertise the job in the normal fashion
Remember folks, we all pay for this scheme of bureaucrats to spin these numbers to us.
If we could lower taxes on these companies maybe they would hire more people
Yes there are pros and cons with the Job Bridge Programme, the main stumbling block in that it is too loosely run. It should only be for those in SME’s with skilled roles. It is eroding Graduate programmes in larger companies.
On the upside If those figures are indeed correct then that’s positive.
So almost half of jobsbridge finishers are still unemployed despite the employer taking advantage of them for 6 to 9 months.
I’ve seen a couple of JobBridge intern ads for qualified veterinary surgeons. I can see why clinics are doing this, the veterinary profession has a tradition of offering internships, but you wonder what level of ‘training’ the interns will get. 50 quid a week over your dole here or a starting salary of E35k in the UK?
supervalu are looking for a MANAGER to run their store in SALLINS, THIS IS TOTAL ABUSE, WHO IS GOING TO MENTOR THE MANAGER THE OWNER?
SUPERVALU ARE ALSO FOR A FLOOR ASSISTANT, IT DOESNT TAKE 9 MONTHS TO TRAIN ANYONE TO STACK SHELVES
you get to keep your dole for working 40 hours a week with no pay, but you get to keep your dole!!!! job bridge my ass
I’ve had 4x interviews with Jobbridge, in 1 case the employer was looking for a graduate and I got the impression that a permanent position was a possibility. The remaining 3x all employers made it clear that the positions were temporary with no chance of being employed by those companies. A further 1 company wanted a graduate and the remaining 2 companies wanted more experienced people. I am not even a graduate. Since then, 1 of above companies has taken on a further 2 interns in my sector and several more in other departments, none are guaranteed a job at the end.
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