The Jobbridge Scandal

ThirdMan

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Obviously, some employers are getting more cheeky and blatant. Report it!

How do you report it?

ABajaninCork

Here is where you report issues.

Ann Landers

It's bad enough advertising a wait staff "internship", but blatantly looking for someone with experience is just downright cheeky. The brass neck of them. I do wonder if these crappy internships ever get filled.

shruikan2553

I think they are looking for somone who has done a "barista" course. I remember they were offering positions for one in the college awhile ago. Although Im not really sure what the point of an internship is when you have already learnt how to do the job.

Xenji

shruikan2553 wrote: »

I think they are looking for somone who has done a "barista" course. I remember they were offering positions for one in the college awhile ago. Although Im not really sure what the point of an internship is when you have already learnt how to do the job.

Free experienced labour :pac:

Ann Landers

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Here is where you report issues.

Link doesn't work!

ABajaninCork

Try this: http://jobbridge.ie/feedback.aspx

Ann Landers

shruikan2553 wrote: »

I think they are looking for somone who has done a "barista" course. I remember they were offering positions for one in the college awhile ago. Although Im not really sure what the point of an internship is when you have already learnt how to do the job.

True but they are looking for prior experience in other areas too.

confuseddotcom

Does Comfort Keepers have any PAID Staff working for them at all? All they seem to be doing is looking for Interns all around the Country....... :rolleyes:

Artful_Badger

Hope I'm not going off topic with this but does anyone know if its possible to set up a jobsbridge thing yourself ?

Like say if I go to a company and convince them to take me on as an intern, could I go to the social and have them sign off on it ? Or does the company have to go through the entire thing of registering it and offering publicly ?

shruikan2553

Artful_Badger wrote: »

Hope I'm not going off topic with this but does anyone know if its possible to set up a jobsbridge thing yourself ?

Like say if I go to a company and convince them to take me on as an intern, could I go to the social and have them sign off on it ? Or does the company have to go through the entire thing of registering it and offering publicly ?

I think you can, not certain though

Whatsgonewrong

confuseddotcom wrote: »

Does Comfort Keepers have any PAID Staff working for them at all? All they seem to be doing is looking for Interns all around the Country....... :rolleyes:

My friend got a job with them back in March last year and he still hasn't started work for them, he did the training with them and everything, they said they'd call and never did.

Paddy Cow

Artful_Badger wrote: »

Hope I'm not going off topic with this but does anyone know if its possible to set up a jobsbridge thing yourself ?

Like say if I go to a company and convince them to take me on as an intern, could I go to the social and have them sign off on it ? Or does the company have to go through the entire thing of registering it and offering publicly ?

Yes the company has to register. It's pretty easy. Then they advertise the internship and accept you straight away.

razzler

My experience of jobbridge: I had a decent job in a large retailer. For the last 6 months my hours have been slashed down to between 15-22 hours per week while jobbridge staff are taken on in the store full time.:mad::mad::mad:

SCOOP 64

razzler wrote: »

My experience of jobbridge: I had a decent job in a large retailer. For the last 6 months my hours have been slashed down to between 15-22 hours per week while jobbridge staff are taken on in the store full time.:mad::mad::mad:

This sort of thing shouldn't happen, cutting down your hours to get free labour
could you not report it anonymously, to avoid come back from firm.

gambit83

jobbridge could have actually worked but the idea has being butched by greedy employers, ego driven politicians and desperate employees

the internships should have only being for new positions, and by new i mean someone should not have being doing a similar job for the previous 12 months (this has to be proved by the employer and also any previous employee that was let-go should be interviewed to confirm previous responsibilities in the position). if the employer was found to be lying then a automatic 1 year ban from the internship program. instead we now have real jobs e.g. stocking shelves in a supermarket, being lost because their is a cheap almost ready made alternative

companies are allowed one internship per year, therefore they either have to make the position full time or scrap the position for a full year instead of just taking on a new intern for another year. complete industries are losing their value, e.g. marketing, admin positions, theirs no graduate entry level jobs anymore, internships have driven down the market value of graduates which in turn has driven down the value of someone with a 1-2 years experience and in turn 2-3 years experience as they are relatively easy to replace

also the employer should pay the equivalent of the jobseekers benefit to the intern and the govt should pay the additional top up of €50. the govt. isn't actually any better of as it is still paying the full jobseekers payment, this way it can save money and put it to better use, e.g. more hospital beds, employ more nurses

internships in America are highly valued by perspective employers as they show the jobseeker to be ambitious and wanted to get started in a particular sector i.e. short term loss for long term gain. but here they are seen as a short term solution to cutting costs and cheap labour for employers and a way for the govt to boast about employment figures

this "employment scheme" really make my blood boil - for shame on the Labour Party, i honestly think it will come back to bite them in the future though as they will lose a entire generations vote

dxhound2005

gambit83 wrote: »

jobbridge could have actually worked but the idea has being butched by greedy employers, ego driven politicians and desperate employees

the internships should have only being for new positions, and by new i mean someone should not have being doing a similar job for the previous 12 months (this has to be proved by the employer and also any previous employee that was let-go should be interviewed to confirm previous responsibilities in the position). if the employer was found to be lying then a automatic 1 year ban from the internship program. instead we now have real jobs e.g. stocking shelves in a supermarket, being lost because their is a cheap almost ready made alternative

companies are allowed one internship per year, therefore they either have to make the position full time or scrap the position for a full year instead of just taking on a new intern for another year. complete industries are losing their value, e.g. marketing, admin positions, theirs no graduate entry level jobs anymore, internships have driven down the market value of graduates which in turn has driven down the value of someone with a 1-2 years experience and in turn 2-3 years experience as they are relatively easy to replace

also the employer should pay the equivalent of the jobseekers benefit to the intern and the govt should pay the additional top up of €50. the govt. isn't actually any better of as it is still paying the full jobseekers payment, this way it can save money and put it to better use, e.g. more hospital beds, employ more nurses

internships in America are highly valued by perspective employers as they show the jobseeker to be ambitious and wanted to get started in a particular sector i.e. short term loss for long term gain. but here they are seen as a short term solution to cutting costs and cheap labour for employers and a way for the govt to boast about employment figures

this "employment scheme" really make my blood boil - for shame on the Labour Party, i honestly think it will come back to bite them in the future though as they will lose a entire generations vote

I think you are overstating the impact of the scheme if you think it will be the factor which will decide how an entire generation will vote. There are only ever about 6,500 people on the scheme at any given time and lots of placements go unfilled. There have been employment schemes for decades, most of them much more extensive than Jobbridge and I can't recall any of them affecting the outcome of any election or even being significant factors in any election campaign.

Mrs Garth Brooks

Soon the government will be paying all our wages. How does that help the country. Is the money not better spent on hospitals and let the employer pay the wages.

dxhound2005

HardLuckWoman wrote: »

Soon the government will be paying all our wages. How does that help the country. Is the money not better spent on hospitals and let the employer pay the wages.

I don't think the Government will want to pay the wages of about 1.6 million people working in the private sector.

gambit83

dxhound2005 wrote: »

I think you are overstating the impact of the scheme if you think it will be the factor which will decide how an entire generation will vote. There are only ever about 6,500 people on the scheme at any given time and lots of placements go unfilled. There have been employment schemes for decades, most of them much more extensive than Jobbridge and I can't recall any of them affecting the outcome of any election or even being significant factors in any election campaign.

perhaps you're right, i guess only time will tell!!

their may be only 6,500 on the program at any given time but how many have emigrated? especially recent graduates?? since the downturn the majority of graduates have emigrated and one of the first things that any graduate will say when asked about potential employment in Ireland is "scambridge" and the harm that Labour has done in implementing such a scheme. now it could be the case of out of sight out of mind but as i mentioned only time will tell

razzler

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

This sort of thing shouldn't happen, cutting down your hours to get free labour
could you not report it anonymously, to avoid come back from firm.

Apparently it's allowable as our contracts stated a minimum of 15 hours per week, but they never reduced our hours so drastically before.

dxhound2005

gambit83 wrote: »

perhaps you're right, i guess only time will tell!!

their may be only 6,500 on the program at any given time but how many have emigrated? especially recent graduates?? since the downturn the majority of graduates have emigrated and one of the first things that any graduate will say when asked about potential employment in Ireland is "scambridge" and the harm that Labour has done in implementing such a scheme. now it could be the case of out of sight out of mind but as i mentioned only time will tell

There is also large scale immigration into Ireland. About 17% of our current population were born outside the country. These days emigration statistics are more complicated than back in the 1980's for instance because of the numbers of non nationals arriving and leaving all the time. The number of Irish citizens leaving is fairly modest and a lot of them that I know of had jobs here when they left. I don't have figures for new graduates, maybe you could give that link.

It is just a feature of the modern world where Irish people can go to countries with unemployment rates of 8% and get jobs and foreigners can come here and get jobs even with our higher unemployment rate.

PopePalpatine

gambit83 wrote: »

companies are allowed one internship per year, therefore they either have to make the position full time or scrap the position for a full year instead of just taking on a new intern for another year. complete industries are losing their value, e.g. marketing, admin positions, theirs no graduate entry level jobs anymore, internships have driven down the market value of graduates which in turn has driven down the value of someone with a 1-2 years experience and in turn 2-3 years experience as they are relatively easy to replace
[...]
this "employment scheme" really make my blood boil - for shame on the Labour Party, i honestly think it will come back to bite them in the future though as they will lose a entire generations vote

If Jobbridge is still around by the time I finish my BSc in CSSE, I'm leaving this country.

SeanSouth

I think this thread sadly lacks some balance.......

Firstly, Employers should not be allowed to get "barmaids" or "fruit & veg assistants" on job bridge. This just devalues the scheme for everyone.
My strong impression is that people are not taking on these types of internships. You would need to be very stupid to do that.

However, I do take exception to a lot of other "bandwagon" comments

1) Trainees do not work for nothing. Many get 188 + 50. Thats not "nothing"
Its funded by the tax payer.
2) People with no work experience can benefit immensely from the scheme if they do it right. A savvy candidate will get it all in writing before they start -
the internship plan, the expected outcomes and the chances of permanent employment. You know, it is ok to go in with your eyes open and No, its not compulsory for anyone yet
3) The real problem that we've got in today's labour market place is that staff are too expensive to hire. The government that introduced the minimum wage has an awful lot to answer for. The minimum wage is set at a level where less employees can be hired for basic level work. A very powerful piece of legislation designed to protect workers that has actually resulted in less work for the people that it tries to protect.
4) A properly designed internship allows the employer an opportunity to get a trainee without cost for say nine months. The idea is that once the nine months has elapsed and the induction / training period is over, and if the intern is by then adding sufficient value to the business to justify his wage then he will be hired. Despite what many seem to think on here, no employer wants the disruption of hiring interns every nine months.

I said it before. Find the employer that you want to work for. Set up a meeting, go talk to them, propose an internship and take your chances.
The workplace has changed. Employers no longer just need people to show up. An employee needs to justify their employment and add more value than cost to maintain it. There are jobs out there. Not necessarily advertised on a website or newspaper. Its your job to seek out a suitable employer, convince him / her what you can do and work your way in that way. That's your first test.

Guy:Incognito

SeanSouth wrote: »

1) Trainees do not work for nothing. Many get 188 + 50. Thats not "nothing"
Its funded by the tax payer.
.

Why should the taxpayer be funding private companies and giving them huge advantages over competitors? Whos benefit is it if they drive competitors out of business?

Why cant they pay minimum wage like they would have to before?

Guy:Incognito

SeanSouth wrote: »

Despite what many seem to think on here, no employer wants the disruption of hiring interns every nine months.
.

The disruption is offset by the cost - €0 vs hiring employees 39 x €8.65 x 39 = €13156.65 + employers liabilities.

ABajaninCork

SeanSouth wrote: »

I think this thread sadly lacks some balance.......

Firstly, Employers should not be allowed to get "barmaids" or "fruit & veg assistants" on job bridge. This just devalues the scheme for everyone.
My strong impression is that people are not taking on these types of internships. You would need to be very stupid to do that.

However, I do take exception to a lot of other "bandwagon" comments

They shouldn't be allowed, I agree. However, NOTHING is done to discourage this. Believe me, I know...

SeanSouth wrote: »

1) Trainees do not work for nothing. Many get 188 + 50. Thats not "nothing"
Its funded by the tax payer.

Sorry. If you factor in transport costs, particularly if you live in a rural area, very often the 'extra' E50 is eaten up in those costs. So yeah - it's for NOTHING.

SeanSouth wrote: »

2) People with no work experience can benefit immensely from the scheme if they do it right. A savvy candidate will get it all in writing before they start -
the internship plan, the expected outcomes and the chances of permanent employment. You know, it is ok to go in with your eyes open and No, its not compulsory for anyone yet

You're being naive in the extreme. Getting the job description in writing means jack. Once you're through the door, then you take your chances. Now - some people HAVE benefited from the scheme, no doubt about it. But they are in the minority. You also seem to have skipped over the examples on this thread where people HAVE been made to go on a JB scheme or their dole will be cut. This hasn't happened to me yet, but the evidence on here seems to be credible. Why would people lie about something like that?

To give my own personal example. I went for a JB interview at a very well known multi-national in Cork. At the interview, I was told in no uncertain terms there would be no job at the end of the term. I'll have experience and a gap filled on my CV. Then what?

SeanSouth wrote: »

3) The real problem that we've got in today's labour market place is that staff are too expensive to hire. The government that introduced the minimum wage has an awful lot to answer for. The minimum wage is set at a level where less employees can be hired for basic level work. A very powerful piece of legislation designed to protect workers that has actually resulted in less work for the people that it tries to protect.

Ireland has one of the highest CoL indexes in the EU. That is one of the reasons why hiring here is so expensive. If you allow the employers to set the 'floor', what do you suppose the result will be? You have to pay your employees appropriately, and not expect them to live on fresh air. That is also the way to have your employees working hard for you and doing their best. If you pay peanuts...
You also miss the point that Ireland also has one of the lowest Corporation Tax rates in the EU. Why do you think so many multi-nationals want to do business here?

SeanSouth wrote: »

4) A properly designed internship allows the employer an opportunity to get a trainee without cost for say nine months. The idea is that once the nine months has elapsed and the induction / training period is over, and if the intern is by then adding sufficient value to the business to justify his wage then he will be hired. Despite what many seem to think on here, no employer wants the disruption of hiring interns every nine months.

That's the thing. There are very few properly designed internships. As pointed out many times before on this thread, this is hardly 'bandwaggoning' as you put it. More often than not, there is shameless exploitation by employers.

SeanSouth wrote: »

I said it before. Find the employer that you want to work for. Set up a meeting, go talk to them, propose an internship and take your chances.
The workplace has changed. Employers no longer just need people to show up. An employee needs to justify their employment and add more value than cost to maintain it. There are jobs out there. Not necessarily advertised on a website or newspaper. Its your job to seek out a suitable employer, convince him / her what you can do and work your way in that way. That's your first test.

Been there, done that. Of course it's not to say this approach won't work. One of these days, I hope a door will open. But it's bloody tiring to keep knocking on the door, only for no-one to answer. How do you get round that?

Xenji

Are we feeding the troll again?

ABajaninCork

To expand further on my last post. This morning, whilst searching for an old mail, I came across an e-mail I sent to the Dept of Social Protection nearly TWO years ago to the day. I've posted an excerpt of the questions I raised below:

• Was there a benchmarking exercise carried out to determine what the criteria should be for an internship?
• What quality checks are carried out to ensure the system is not abused? (i.e. the position offered is indeed an internship with a real opportunity to learn and train, and not a ‘cheap labour’ role.)
• What sanctions (if any) are taken against employers who are shown to abuse the system?
• Could prospective interns be discriminated against on grounds of age for example?
• How is the success of the employee measured? Is this recorded?
• Are there any statistics showing the number/percentage of people who have been successful in obtaining permanent employment following the successful completion of an internship?

To date, I have not received a reply from the department or my local TD's to whom I copied the e-mail.

I guess no surprises there...

ABajaninCork

Xenji wrote: »

Are we feeding the troll again?

Sorry. but when I see canned b******s being spouted, I had to reply!