Job-Bridge Taking advantage of the unemployed

I am starting a thread to highlight something I feel strongly about. I think it is well known for some months that the Jobbridge scheme is being taken advantage of by some employers. But nothing seems to be getting done about it. I have started this petition with an aim to getting the point across to the people in charge of the scheme that with some tweaks it could be a good for actual internships but as it stands I believe it is harming the jobs market even further. So please lend your support it only takes a few seconds to put your name down and hopefully we can make some positive change to the scheme.
Thanks.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/j...he-unemployed/

I don't think there is any doubt that the jobbridge scheme is taken advantage of, but the government don't care. To them, it's all about slashing the social welfare bill.

I agree, but nothing is going to change if we dont act...

It's a real race to the bottom initiative. Once the government steps in and subsidises something then it can't step back.

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Originally Posted by Poor Student

It's a real race to the bottom initiative. Once the government steps in and subsidises something then it can't step back.

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Thats it, why would I pay you 500 euro if I can get someone in for 50 at most!! Its OK for actual internships, otherwise employers are taken the ****. Waiters/petrol pump attendants/cleaners/gardeners the list goes on, absolute joke. Sign the petition so I can try and use it to get it changed... Worth a shot.

I don't think an online petition will solve anything unless there's a follow through: presentation of a printout, lobbying, etc, but I've signed it in the hope of that.

The only way it'll change if people report bogus internships advertised, and/or the people on the internships report abuses.

Personally I think they're great in theory, but employers in this state just cannot be trusted. Just add their taking advantage of this to a very long list of examples.

Thats just it. The idea itself isn't the worst.

But when you see Hotels offering position that basically amount to a job that should be paid €40k easily (like entertainment manager etc etc) it makes a joke of the whole thing

*Above example ios forma similar thread on this/another forum that stuck in my head

Work experience is always welcome but the Internship programme is yet again another mis-diagnosis of a important problem by this government. People are not unemployed because they don't have enough experience, they are unemployed because there are no jobs ('no jobs' = fcuk all jobs). 75% of the internships advertised are positions that would take no more than 2 weeks to train up not 6-9 bloody months. Wiping tables, stacking shelves, serving fast food = 1 day of an induction. Some of the more technical internships may be good for recent graduates but I suspect reading the specs many are looking for experienced workers.

Quite simply the government don't give a ****e about the unemployment crisis. They only created Jobbridge to provide the optics that they care and are pro-actively doing something about it which some people have bought into.

Joan Burton, the DSP and TDs are being inundated with complaints and criticisms of the scheme. She and the government consistently shoot down any negative criticisms when it is a blatantly poorly implemented scheme facilitating job displacement. Trying petitions is all well and good, but this is Burton's pet 'make it look like I'm doing something' project and she is unrelentless in its defence.

A few weeks ago the Sunday Times reported that 75% of participants were dropping out the programme and suddenly the next day Burton and the DSP announced an extension of the scheme by 1,000 places and proclaimed the programme as 'success' and that is 'working'. She claimed that 700+ out of 2000 got jobs either directly with the participating company or other companies following the completion of their internships yet they have failed to publish any verifiable statistics to back this up and FOI requests for this information have been shot down. Something really stinks about it all.

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Originally Posted by Macy

The only way it'll change if people report bogus internships advertised, and/or the people on the internships report abuses.

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I reported one last month that was looking for HR administrator with 1+ years experience. No reply to my report and it was still up 2 weeks later.

FAS don't filter or scan these positions, they throw them straight up.

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Originally Posted by Dodge

But when you see Hotels offering position that basically amount to a job that should be paid €40k easily (like entertainment manager etc etc) it makes a joke of the whole thing

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Put in more controls and time how long ISME take to start moaning about red tape. Again.

http://www.limerickfc.ie/internships-available

Limerick FC looking for a cook and a "Marketing Administrator". They say "It is envisioned that both of these roles will develop into paid positions within the club following the end of the Job Bridge internship."

Why not just hire people as actual paid workers then? This is essentially saying "Work for free for 9 months, and then we'll give you a job, maybe".

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Originally Posted by total hoofball

I reported one last month that was looking for HR administrator with 1+ years experience. No reply to my report and it was still up 2 weeks later.

FAS don't filter or scan these positions, they throw them straight up.

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It's not FÁS, it's an entirely new quango they set up.

JobBridge is a disaster, as anybody with a brain predicted when it was announced, and has led to many full-time jobs being downgraded to internships. However I wouldn't blame it all on JobBridge - even before it was announced, anyone actively seeking work would have seen all sorts of jobs being advertised as "internships". My favourite was an internship "opportunity" at a hotel in Dublin which offered the intern training in "answering phones".

http://intern.jobbridge.ie/Default.a...EobYfBziRwbIep

Oh **** off.

That's a disgrace.

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Originally Posted by Charlie Darwin

It's not FÁS, it's an entirely new quango they set up.

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It's not a quango, it's operated by Social Protection (It was in FAS, but went to Social Protection as part of the breakup of that organisation).

Remember an article in the Guardian from two years about a lawyer in Britain who challenged a company over unpaid internships and won the interns in question back pay, was minimum wage back pay but was something at least. The argument was that it went against Britain's employment laws for someone to have an agreed number of hours and/or a set time where the person would have to work/be in work and for them not to be paid. That internships could only be lawful if the intern was able to dictate their own hours and when they came and went on any given day.

The lawyer had asked for other interns to come forward as he felt if enough back pay claims were brought that companies would grow weary of the whole process. Haven't heard much since then so I guess not many came forward but it's something I'd like to see taken up in Irish courts. At present you have jobs that should never require much prior experience being advertised and you have educated and/or skilled workers being taken advantage of in jobs that should be entry level for them

I'm actually seriously considering taking on an intern at the moment, does that make me a bad person?

It depends on why you're doing it and what you have to offer them.

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Originally Posted by dahamsta

I'm actually seriously considering taking on an intern at the moment, does that make me a bad person?

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No, you're practical and you can make it work properly.

This Summer we took on 2 student interns. They weren't in receipt of any welfare, just free for the summer. Both worked 16 hours (each) per week and we paid expenses for both. 1 of them I hope to god will come and work with us when he finishes Uni (next May) and the other would be a great addition to any company (including ours) in 3 years when she graduates. They'll work for another 6 weeks with us and the only thing I'll say is that if there are some basic expenses paid to them, and there's a little "gift" of a couple of hundred dollars at the end, and they're busy and learning, it's good.