JobBridge to Nowhere
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Transcript of JobBridge to Nowhere
JobBridge to Nowhere…
Report by the
Communications Workers’ Union Youth Committee
November 2012
‐ 1 ‐
What is JobBridge?
In July 2011, Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton launched the JobBridge
internship scheme. Heralded by the government as a mechanism for labour market
activisation (getting a job to me and you); the scheme seeks to provide work
experience placements for some of the 434,000 people currently unemployed in
Ireland.
Main features of the scheme:
Internships of 6 and 9 months are offered by host companies/organisations
67% of internships private sector, 21% public sector, 9% voluntary sector
Interns receive no payment for their labour from their host
company/organisation
Interns receive a “top‐up” to their social welfare of €50 to cover
travel/subsistence
The rationale behind JobBridge:
To break the cycle where jobseekers are unable to get a job without
experience
To keep interns close to the jobs market
To enhance an individual’s prospects of getting a job
The Youth Committee’s Rationale for Opposing JobBridge:
The scheme depresses job creation by creating a pool of free labour for
employers
The scheme is inherently exploitative and young people are particularly
vulnerable
The scheme will inevitably result in job displacement
The scheme puts downward pressure on wage levels across all sectors of
the economy
The scheme is being used to fill the labour gap in the public sector created
by the current recruitment embargo
All workers deserve to be paid for their labour
‐ 2 ‐
JobBridge: The story so far and the Indecon Report
Joan Burton recently declared that JobBridge is a success however the report by
Indecon is not as straightforward as it seems.
Mrs Burton suggests that 52% of interns had gained employment from the
scheme. This is spin as this figure relates to the “current status” of those who
participated in the scheme.
The fact is that only 29.3% of interns are currently employed by their “host”
organisations.
A further 22.9% have secured employment with another employer but there is no
evidence to suggest a causal relationship between participation in JobBridge and
this job procurement.
Furthermore, only 41% of internships were completed in full.
33% of those who did not complete the scheme cited “dissatisfaction” with
JobBridge as the reason for dropping out. This amounts to 1 in 5 of all interns.
Effect on Real Job Creation
6.2% of “hosts” said they would have been highly likely to have offered paid
employment to JobBridge interns in the absence of the scheme, while 22.6%
indicated that they would have been fairly likely to.
This amounts to 28.8% which tallies with the 29.3% of interns currently employed
by their host companies/organisations.
Furthermore, when host companies/organisations were asked why they had not
offered paid employment to their interns 42% said there were no employment
opportunities available in the organisation while significantly only 3.7% cited
financial constraints.
Other Factors
While the report does indicate a level of satisfaction with many aspects of the
scheme it is important to remember that those who fully completed their
internships disproportionately responded to the Indecon intern survey. Overall
only 48% of interns responded to part of the Indecon survey.
‐ 3 ‐
What cannot be hidden is the high dropout rate 59%, the high number of those
dissatisfied with the scheme 20% and the relatively low number of interns
getting jobs from their host companies/organisations: 29.3%.
The Response to ScamBridge
The one thing that is abundantly clear from the findings of the Indecon report is
that the data available is limited and many interns are not accounted for at all.
While some of these may be perfectly happy with their experiences with JobBridge
undoubtedly there are those who are not.
Internet chat forums such as boards.ie have been inundated with stories of interns
who took up placements in good faith only to find that they were being cynically
used as a free labour pool.
With this in mind, Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy has recently set up a new
innovative website (ScamBridge.ie). The idea of the website is simple, to expose
the many dubious internships advertised on the JobBridge website and to create a
space where interns can share their experiences of the scheme. To date there has
been a huge response on the ScamBridge website and with the help of the CWU
Youth Committee, this could be translated into positive action for the interns
concerned.
Below is an email received by ScamBridge from an intern named Dónal:
“This internship thing is slave labour simple as. I recently dropped out after
3 weeks of a 6‐month internship. Basically I was told I would be mentored
by the warehouse manager which did’nt happen because the place was so
busy. Now despite that I have to say I picked up on most things pretty
quickly and by the second week I was working just as hard and as good as
the other full time lads that were there. So i thought hang on a minute im
being exploited here. I mean they could have taken me on for at least
minimum wage starting off.
My contract ended just after christmas and it dawned on me that there just
planning on using me as free labour for their busy christmas period then
drop me afterwards. Im not suprised to hear 75% of participants dropped
out, its hard to give much effort everyday in a job that your not getting paid
for and in the back of your mind thinking constantly theres no guarantee of
‐ 4 ‐
a job, it messes with your mind because your thinking im working flat out
but im still unemployed, w.t.f!!!
On average the lads that worked there would have been getting about 10
euro per hour, so I reckon in just those three weeks I was there I made that
boss 1200 richer paid for in my sweat. If there was no internship scheme
they would have to train new recruits eventually and pay them a full time
wage anyway so the internship changes nothing in fact it just makes it
longer for the jobless rate to go down as there all just jumping on this
internship bandwagon!” [sic]
The Campaign
Both the CWU Youth Committee and the organisers of ScamBridge maintain a
principled opposition to a scheme that has people working for free.
However we are cognisant of the fact that workers engage with JobBridge of their
own free will and many don’t view it as exploitation. Many may change their view
after commencing an internship.
While the long‐term strategy of the campaign is the see the eventual wind‐down
of JobBridge and its replacement with a real jobs scheme with real wages, we
recognise that the protection of those currently interning is of paramount
importance to the campaign.
With this in mind the campaign will focus attention primarily on the more dubious
internships offered by JobBridge, particularly in low‐paid sectors, while also calling
for a more vigorous vetting and monitoring process of all internships offered on
JobBridge.
Organisations should not be allowed to hire interns consecutively to do the
same job by simply changing the job title
The current practice of monitoring only 5% of internships must be replaced
An organisation that takes on an intern must provide a paid job to the
intern on the completion of an internship, unless it can provide valid
reasons relating to the intern’s performance or the organisation’s financial
status that justifies not taking them on
Interns who partake in a project for which a bonus is given to staff should
also receive a share of the bonus
‐ 5 ‐
Internships in the public sector must be stopped immediately
The Trade Union movement as the largest civil society group in Ireland
must, as a matter of urgency, secure a place on the JobBridge steering
group, which is currently dominated by business interests
‐ 6 ‐
At the launch of JobBridge the Irish Congress of
Trade Unions stated that it welcomed the
initiative but warned that “zero tolerance” must
be shown to all those employers blatantly
abusing the scheme. The campaign calls on
Congress to support the activities of ScamBridge
in ending the exploitation of workers in the
JobBridge scheme.
Communications Workers’ Union
William Norton House Tel: 01 866 3000 Fax: 01 866 3099
575‐577 North Circular Road Email: [email protected] Web: www.cwu.ie
Dublin 1 Facebook: CWU Youth Committee Ireland