The Jobbridge Scandal

The Dogs Bollix

Im on one. You do get social welfare off you for a while. You do get 15 days holidays on it. Im going foreign. Its the only benefit.

Howjoe1

The Dogs Bollix wrote: »

Im on one. You do get social welfare off you for a while. You do get 15 days holidays on it. Im going foreign. Its the only benefit.

you get 365 days holidays if you stay signing.;)

osarusan

Could be a good scheme where people do really learn valuable skills - and is just that for some interns.

But is diabolically managed and horribly abused by plenty of employers.

Tarzana2

BunkMoreland wrote: »

In our company a lot of "new hires" are Job bridge and all get converted into employees after 5-6 months.

If they're good, why does your company wait so long to pay them a decent wage?

byhookorbycrook

Many post advertised in education have no "real world" equivalents, just a sneaky way for schools to get extra helping hands, despite Union directives.

Seth Brundle

Out of curiosity (and thankfully I've not been in the position where I needed it), would people rather spend the time on the dole claiming social welfare and doing little else to provide personal self satisfaction or do a days work for similar money?
Note that I'm not trying to justify slavery.

jonnny68 wrote: »

http://www.scambridge.ie/

According to that site...
"ScamBridge.ie is a campaign initiated by Paul Murphy MEP to end the JobBridge scam and demand a Real Jobs programme."
Once I saw his name, it list any credibility in my mind!

Idle Passerby

kbannon wrote: »

would people rather spend the time on the dole claiming social welfare and doing little else to provide personal self satisfaction or do a days work for similar money?

Personally I would rather be occupied than sit at home growing depressed and reclusive, but I quit a job bridge program where the employer was downright abusive. Working for someone, free of charge to them, who treated me like muck was totally degrading.

Granted, not all Job bridge employers are awful people but I do think some employers think if your willing to work for free you must be a total mug and they treat you accordingly. No one should have to put up with that.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

I think Job-Bridge has a place, but I'd have strict criteria on eligibility. No shop assistants anyway, or any unskilled manual labour which ordinarily would have paid a wage. There's already an incentive to hire younger people in those jobs because they can be paid less than €8.65/hour. Same with trade apprenticeships.

I'd use it as a scheme for recent graduates to gain practical skilled work experience, so I'd cap participation in the scheme to anyone who'd graduated a maximum of two years previously. Any employer caught abusing the scheme would be heavily fined.

The Backwards Man

Sheep Lover wrote: »

How about paying a fair wage for a fair days work?

Nothing wrong with that, but that road has to go both ways.

There'd be some uproar in the country if every member of the workforce that was good for fcuk all got paid fcuk all!:pac:

entropi

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

I think Job-Bridge has a place, but I'd have strict criteria on eligibility. No shop assistants anyway, or any unskilled manual labour which ordinarily would have paid a wage. There's already an incentive to hire younger people in those jobs because they can be paid less than €8.65/hour. Same with trade apprenticeships.

I'd use it as a scheme for recent graduates to gain practical skilled work experience, so I'd cap participation in the scheme to anyone who'd graduated a maximum of two years previously. Any employer caught abusing the scheme would be heavily fined.

This part in bold is the exact reason the scheme was set up. The good aul exploiters soon enough found a way to clean house though, and now the whole thing is a joke. For what it is, it should really work well, but those bad elements of exploitation have ruined it.

The Dogs Bollix

Howjoe1 wrote: »

you get 365 days holidays if you stay signing.;)

Except, you have social welfare on you. Was planning on going somewhere last year when a letter comes through the door about the meetings they expect you to attend. I've been to one of these meetings before where they forced me onto a very useless course. Holiday go out the window thinking i would be forced into another useless course. No, i must take up a jobbridge. See my above post where i am willing to and think it would be great to get experience but its pure exploitation.

I am on a jobbridge and i sold myself short, where im cleaning and helping qualified people. Qualified people with the same qualifications as me. Its soul destroying. But I'm getting my holiday i was planning last year.

Now, people hit me. Dole people going on holidays. The feckers.

booooring!

Pink Lemons wrote: »

Think you're missing the point to be fair.

The thread is whats your view on it an my opinion is you should take anything you get!

Who's going to get the job in the supermarket? The person with no expierence or the person who completed a nine month job bridge scheme?

Maybe they could stick another 50 a week on it but there not so be happy and take the job!

tonycascarino

I'd hazard a guess that 99% of people that do this scheme aren't kept on. The current scheme is just for Employers to use & abuse IMO.

mickstupp

BunkMoreland wrote: »

Good way to vet people, most are useless but at least you get to weed out the pure useless.

I think people who complain about it just are too used to the dole. Wanting everything for nothing.

You know what else is a good way to vet people? The six month trial periods that used to be the done thing. Where people got paid for the work they did, and then based on their performance were let go or kept on. The difference is now companies get months of free labour.

People do not want 'everything for nothing'. What they're doing now is working while companies pay nothing.

Pink Lemons

booooring! wrote: »

The thread is whats your view on it an my opinion is you should take anything you get!

Who's going to get the job in the supermarket? The person with no expierence or the person who completed a nine month job bridge scheme?

Maybe they could stick another 50 a week on it but there not so be happy and take the job!

Neither of them will get the job if the supermarket decide to just keep bringing on new jobs bridge people when the first lot finish the scheme, like a lot of companies have been doing. Also, do you really think 9 months experience in stacking shelves in a supermarket is necessary? A day of training and you'll have all the knowledge you need, then you gain the experience doing the job.

Getting paid 50 a week, on top of your dole, is cheap labour and a way for them to get around paying somebody a proper wage to do the very same job, no two ways about it.

booooring!

Pink Lemons wrote: »

Neither of them will get the job if the supermarket decide to just keep bringing on new jobs bridge people when the first lot finish the scheme, like a lot of companies have been doing. Also, do you really think 9 months experience in stacking shelves in a supermarket is necessary? A day of training and you'll have all the knowledge you need, then you gain the experience doing the job.

Getting paid 50 a week, on top of your dole, is cheap labour and a way for them to get around paying somebody a proper wage to do the very same job, no two ways about it.

Do some work until something comes along. You can leave jobbridge if you get offered a job!

Samsgirl

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

even worse must be the CE scheme in place - €20 euro extra on the dole you get!

CE is 19.5hrs a week as opposed to 40. Also on CE you may qualify for CETS - hugely subsidised childcare.

Sunflower 27

If the business can't afford to put at least another 50e towards it, then they don't deserve to be on the scheme. No business can't afford to pay someone 10e for a day's work.

There are some very greedy people in Ireland. I don't know how they can justify letting someone work for them for free.

Burton is an absolute ahole to have let this scheme continue.

KingBrian2

Job Bridge don't you know it is a scheme for the man to keep you down.

Robsweezie

Idle Passerby wrote:

Personally I would rather be occupied than sit at home growing depressed and reclusive, but I quit a job bridge program where the employer was downright abusive. Working for someone, free of charge to them, who treated me like muck was totally degrading.

The first two lines of that post read like a freestyle rap. If all else fails, do a mixtape.

Guy:Incognito

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I had to spend a few weeks on me stamps about seven or eight years ago when awaiting clearance for changing jobs. I'd have gladly shovelled dung for a few extra quid a week. That's the problem with people today, a good honest day's work is beneath them, but sitting around on their hole somehow isn't.

That's just as much a reason for not being kept on as exploitation is.

If a company needs someone to shovel dung then before job bridge they would have paid them to do it.

Why should one company get free labour while their competitor pays someone to do the same job?

Tony EH

As has been said before, it's simply monstrous exploitation and anyone who supports it should be utterly ashamed of themselves.

Guy:Incognito

BunkMoreland wrote: »

In our company a lot of "new hires" are Job bridge and all get converted into employees after 5-6 months.

Good way to vet people, most are useless but at least you get to weed out the pure useless.

I think people who complain about it just are too used to the dole. Wanting everything for nothing.

The trial period is there to vet people, while they are getting paid like a proper employee. Theres no need to have people working for free.

boobar wrote: »

I think it can be worthwhile for some jobs.

For example, I know a few IT graduates who having finished their degree couldn't get jobs because no employers would look at them as they had no experience.

One of the larger IT consultancy firms offered them a Job Bridge internship and offered them free of charge to a client. A year later, they're in good paying jobs because they got experience that they wouldn't have got otherwise.

How did the people there since before jobbridge get their jobs?

TBH it looks like it has created an excuse to get people to work for free for a bit rather than fixed a problem.

Idle Passerby

Robsweezie wrote: »

The first two lines of that post read like a freestyle rap. If all else fails, do a mixtape.

Hmmm good thinking! I wonder if Jay Z takes interns?

Seans_Username

I'm not on job bridge but I'm doing an internship where I get 50 quid a week on top of my dole.

It's so disheartening every day thinking all I'm getting is fifty ****ing euro for this shíte. My rent is fairly expensive so it makes me feel even worse that mum & dad are going to have to give me money so I can make ends meet.

Only recently I was told that I could put the title 'Marketing Assistant' down on my CV, instead of Intern, with the explanation: "because that's what you're doing, really".... I come home and I'm wrecked most days. At least when I wasn't working I had time and energy to get plenty of exercise.

It's an absolute scam. I'd honestly rather do an online course or something than give some employer the satisfaction of successfully carrying out that slave labour bullshít

Taco Chips

The level of disrespect and contempt that some members of the older generation in this country treat young people is disgusting. The exploitation of JobsBridge among other things is very clear evidence of this. Then all the usual pissing and moaning about the ungrateful youth when they emigrate. The most well educated and qualified generation this country has seen is also subjected to the most unequal employment climate. If employers aren't prepared to pay a fair wage for a fair days work then they need to examine where their own business is going wrong.

Sunflower 27

Taco Chips wrote: »

The level of disrespect and contempt that some members of the older generation in this country treat young people is disgusting. The exploitation of JobsBridge among other things is very clear evidence of this. Then all the usual pissing and moaning about the ungrateful youth when they emigrate. The most well educated and qualified generation this country has seen is also subjected to the most unequal employment climate. If employers aren't prepared to pay a fair wage for a fair days work then they need to examine where their own business is going wrong.

But these businesses are not going wrong, after 6-9 months of free labour they are thriving.

One particular business I have seen is always looking for staff from this scheme - receptionist, sales people, can't think of the others but there have been loads.

This place is clearly making a killing out of the scheme by letting our taxes pay for their staff.

One internship in may and another June/July. And that is only the tip of the iceberg. it's disgraceful.

http://www.kilkennyjobs.ie/cache/job/3593034

http://www.kilkennyjobs.ie/cache/job/9037192

Mother Brain

Whatever happened to on the job training anyway?

The modern internship programme is a relatively recent development.

Companies basically saying, yeah you're not worth my f**king time to train and develop. We want to be able to put in absolutely no effort into the quality of the workforce, but still expect the highest quality candidates with butt loads of experience to be available for us to utilise at our leisure.

Sort of unhinged circular logic. Training new employees used to be considered a normal cost of doing business. Even an investment.

The complete fallacy surrounding the actual skill requirements to do a job as well is kind of mind boggling. Apparently the four years in college count for absolutely nothing whatsoever in your ability to do a job, self motivate, learn new things quickly or anything at all of practical use to an employer.

Apparently you are as useless to an employer as a newborn babe until you have some of this mythical 'experience', because every job is just so incredibly difficult.

They don't mostly all boil down to writing emails and mucking about with some spreadsheet / software or other.

Tony EH

It's simply another feather in the cap of the ongoing effort to devalue people's labour.

People better get used to this scenario, because the way things are going, it'll be the norm in working life where we reach the point that employees will be expected to fund their own first 6 months or year when they go for a new job.

Working life is becoming less and less about the employee (you know the people that actually do the work) and more about easing the situation for big business, who already have more than their fair share stacked in their favour as it is.

And this scenario will run across all job/career types. You think your "skills" will be of any benefit to you. Guess again. "Skilled" labour is becoming less and less important in the face of cheaper labour.

coffee_cake

I used to think it was a good idea and in principle it still would be, but they seem to be utterly taking the piss asking for qualified psychs or vets or what have you
Even basic stuff like working a till, if you have zero experience in the area (maybe you never caught a break, maybe you are trying to re-train) and nobody will give you a job because why would they risk you vs someone who's done it before, you can at least prove you showed up to work on time for 6 months, were reliable, have some more skills than you did, and go look for a job with that.
But the other extreme seems pretty mental