INDEPENDENT EVALUATION PROVES JOBBRIDGE SUCCESS

Posted on October 23, 2012 1:54 PM   |   Permanent Link   

Dublin Bay North Labour Party T.D., Seán Kenny has highlighted the positive outcomes for the JobBridge scheme which were published yesterday as part of the interim evaluation of JobBridge by Indecon International Economic Consultants.

"The Indecon report contains a number of very positive findings for JobBridge. The most significant is that 52% of JobBridge 'finishers' are currently in paid employment since finishing their internship. This is one of the best outcomes in Europe for work placement programmes.

"JobBridge is a pillar of the Government's Jobs Initiative. Its goal is to help people seeking employment to gain valuable work experience and enhance their prospects of getting a job. I am very pleased that the independent evaluation of the scheme has found that this goal is being achieved.

"The Programme has had positive effects on subsequent employment chances for participants, who in the absence of the Programme would not have secured employment. The findings suggest that the Programme has been an effective labour market intervention in achieving movement off the Live Register. Earlier this year, Minister Burton widened the eligibility criteria for the JobBridge scheme to include lone parents and disabled people, and increased the number of places to 6,000. I understand that further analysis is currently underway to examine any refinements that could further enhance the scheme; this will be published by the end of the year in the final evaluation report.

"It is significant that the take-up of the scheme has been particularly strong in the SME sector with this sector accounting for 6,481 or 58% of all placements to-date. The evaluation also tells us that 51.6% of non-graduate interns have secured employment, demonstrating that the scheme is working very effectively across all skill and education levels. However, one-third of participants cited dissatisfaction with their placement as a reason for finishing their placement early. This shows that the scheme needs to examine the quality of placements available and the motivations of some host organisations. In terms of the views of host organisations, a very tiny minority (3%) indicated that JobBridge placements replaced jobs held by previous employees. I would like to see this figure reduced even more, so that all host organisations are partaking in the JobBridge scheme for the right reasons.

"Among the main benefits of JobBridge for interns are that the scheme provides new job skills and the opportunity for participants to gain quality work experience. While a high proportion of interns also consider that the scheme improves their chances of gaining employment. Nearly 90% of interns felt JobBridge had given them new skills. Other benefits include that the Scheme helps boost participant's self-confidence, assists in identifying job opportunities suitable to their abilities, keeps them close to the job market, and helps participants to establish contacts/networks."