Clare Jobbridge Watch

Lady Chatterton

I think the Job Bridge scheme is being used by some businesses as a source of cheap labour and in some cases it is being abused. Tesco came in for a lot of criticism a while back when they placed adverts on the Job Bridge site looking for shelf stalkers for Christmas. A company as profitable as Tesco can afford to create proper jobs and in my view shouldn't be using the scheme for entry level positions.

I think that it is a bit much to expect someone to work as general labourer for an extra €50 a week :eek: It would be completely different if someone was learning a particular trade. I'm not sure why anyone would want this role anyway, even if they gain some experience, when would they get another opportunity to apply it, the construction industry in this country is dead.

As for the bar person and shop positions, these types of positions would be great for transition year students who need work experience. God be with the old days....... When I was 16, I worked part-time in a shop and imagine what....... I was paid for it!

golden8

Clareman wrote: »

They aren't really getting away with anything, it might seem strange to people in a job but when you've nothing to do you're willing to do stuff for nothing just so you have something to do. Throw in the fact that all 3 positions would be a great thing to have on a CV or a trade to have and they are actually providing a service and I'm sure that the 3 people who get the positions will be delighted.

The like Mrs D mentioned in some cases it is abused, these cases they blatantly are. I would sooner work for free in a charity and have done than to work for someone who is abusing the system.

Carazy

Who ever wants a nice 9 month internship to work in a chipper in Ennistymon contact;
Link=Catering Assistant

CATERING ASSISTANT
Based in ENNISTYMON Ref. INTE-761625

Description
The intern will gain practical experience in Customer Service, Cash Handling, Food and Hygiene. The intern will receive formal/informal training in the following: Food preparation and cooking. On completion the intern will have attained skills in running a Fast Food Outlet and Food Preparation.

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Skills Requirements
Ability to use own initiative, use common sense, good people skills, ability to process orders and work in a fast food industry.

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How to Apply
Please forward CV to linda.walsh000@gmail.com

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Please Note:
This is an Internship. An allowance of €50 per week will be paid in addition to your current Social Welfare payment.See eligibility criteria above.

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Duration
9 Months
Hours per week -30

Carazy

An internship for a Waiting Staff in Killaloe
Link = Waiting Staff - Killaloe =

Waiting Staff
Based in Killaloe Ref. INTE-814551

Description
The intern will gain practical experience in: Waiting on table, taking orders, dealing with customers. The intern will receive formal/informal training in the following: Setting and clearing tables, HACCAP, Barista, customer services, cash flow, culinary skills. On completion the intern will have attained skills in: Restaurant skills including customer service, culinary skills, some baking skills, barista coffee making skills, money management.

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Skills Requirements
Hard working. Works on own just as good as part of a team.

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How to Apply
Please forward CV to Noreen.stritch@gmail.com

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Please Note:
This is an Internship. An allowance of €50 per week will be paid in addition to your current Social Welfare payment.See eligibility criteria above.

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Duration
9 Months
Hours per week = 40

topper75

Last two there are a disgrace. Is this nonsense policed or is the entire scheme just an out-and-out mockery?

As much as I despise sloth and lack of ambition, I hate greed and exploitation more. The government should quickly get on top of this or drop it altogether.

hotbabe1992

Whats worse topper is that these schemes ruin the jobs market,effectively converting what could have been paid work into unpaid work,they undermine the jobs market while fiddling the true statistics on the unemployed.Remember there is not just job bridge there is fas and tus and solas,wpp1,wpp2,community services programme(cps),revenue job assist,job initiative scheme..I think there are so many of these job scam ''job'' agencies,so much so that i think it needs cleaning up.

“But the figures also demonstrate the emphasis I’ve placed since becoming Minister on transforming the Department from the passive benefits provider of old to one that is actively assisting people back to work, training and education. Our service does not stop at merely providing a jobseeker’s payment to somebody who is out of work. We also provide the employment supports to help that person back into work, training or education. That is why we spent over €950 million last year on schemes such as Community Employment, Tús, JobBridge, and the Back to Work and Back to Education Allowances.”

AND...What was spent on job bridge alone:

''An estimated €54.73 million was spent on JobBridge, the national internship scheme.''

http://www.merrionstreet.ie/index.php/2013/07/2-2-million-people-benefit-from-social-welfare-payments/?cat=144

topper75

€54.73m is a mental figure hotbabe when you consider that, to a large extent, this is the taxpayer getting the hit for private citizens' labour bills. Breaks all the laws of ethics, economics, and good government.

Fair enough for internships in biopharmacy or nanotechnology that involves a payoff down the line to the exchequer in terms of creating quality jobs through FDI. But for training people how to clean tables and use a cash register?

ger664

I hope people realise the cost associated with creating a job even at min wage. Yes companies are using the Internship to gain cheap labour but what's the alternative. Employ them at full costs and have to increase the cost of their services to fund this. The cost of Labour in Ireland is too high, mainly due to the Min wage been set to high and USC/PRSI and particularly Employers PRSI are a killer.

topper75

I know its not cheap to hire a worker, hence the laws of economics say you only hire when it adds to your business. NO entrepreneur 'creates' jobs as some sort of patriotic duty. Nobody is entitled to be in business in the same way as nobody is entitled to be in a job. A business must make a profit or else fold. A worker must add value to the business in excess of the wage they are paid or they will be let go.

It's odd to see the infamous 'sense of entitlement' being expressed from the entrepreneur side rather than from workers for once.

So if the cafe needs workers, the workers must be paid. If the sums don't add up then there is something fundamentally wrong and another business should take its place(either another more efficient cafe business or another business entirely) .

Also worth noting that consumers have no entitlement to cheap goods. The market mechanism means the goods or services are only available to those who can afford them. If prices need to rise as a reflection of the price of the 'factor of production', in this case labour, then so be it.

The market mechanism is all a balancing act and to work properly demands fluidity with prices and availability of the factors of production. This is what government should be pushing for. The 'invisible hand' of the market takes care of everything else.

Ireland's recent economic history is blighted by intransigence in this regard. Sticky prices, sticky rents, sticky wages leading to job losses, and all this exacerbated by a nasty and prolonged crunch despite the ECB's efforts to practically give money away. The markets want to make their corrections but people won't let them, insisting on ignoring the fact that conditions are not what they were in 2007. The most blatant offender here is rent and rates on retail premises in all our major towns and cities. Too many unoccupied units, this in turn, with loss of footfall on streets is a self-reinforcing downward spiral.

ger664

topper I totally agree with your sentiments above. The tone of this thread generally was oh look at the big fat cat rich employer taking advantage of the cheap labour scheme. The facts as you have outlined show that many Self Employed/ Small Business are struggling and while it may look like greedy employers taking advantage, in this climate for some its probably the only break that they are getting.
From an employers point of view I think its a C*** scheme as it does not address the real issues facing the service/sme sector in Ireland, which if giving the right environment can produce the jobs needed in the economy.