JobBridge scheme not meeting the needs of young unemployed

A newly-published report by the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) is calling for significant reforms of the Government’s ‘JobBridge’ scheme to enhance the experience of participants.

‘JobBridge: Stepping Stone or Dead End?’ is based on interviews with 84 young people who had participated in the scheme. Whilst 68% agreed it was valuable, 44% felt the internship was “used solely for free labour”. Nearly a third said they wouldn’t recommend the scheme to another jobseeker, and less than half (45%) said they would.

Based on its research, the NYCI recommends:
• Doubling the weekly ‘top up’ to €100, paid to participants in addition to their Social Welfare
• Tighter monitoring of the scheme
• Better supports from on-the-job mentors
• A statutory ‘Charter of Rights’ for interns

More details from the NYCI report here.

The NYCI is strongly urging Government not to force young jobseekers into the ‘First Steps’ internship scheme, which is due to launch in April.  One in eight of the young people interviewed for the NYCI’s report said they had felt “compelled” to participate in JobBridge.  These participants had a very poor experience of their internship. Only 10% felt they had been treated as a team member at all times and 100% rated their Internship as “Unsatisfactory” or “Very Unsatisfactory”. Only 19% of those who had participated on a voluntary basis agreed with the latter view.

Social Justice Ireland urges Government to address the ten recommendations set out in the NYCI’s report. It shares the NYCI’s view that young people should not be coerced into job participation and activation schemes, such as ‘First Steps’, if these scheme are not sensitive to their needs.  In its Annual Socio-Economic Review 2014, Social Justice Ireland set out its analysis of and critique of work, unemployment and job creation. It will return to this theme in its 2015 Socio-Economic Review, to be published in April.