The Jobbridge Scandal

SugarCoat

It seems like everytime I view the Fas website more and more real jobs are dissapearing from it and being replaced with free labour internships. When I search for specific sectors now all I seem to find are internships. This scheme is absolutely sickening me as it has potentially destroyed several thousand entry level jobs. I can't believe that Joan Burton and the labour party have completely ruined the youth labour market with a scheme which is:

-replacing real paid jobs with "internships"
-exploiting the jobless
-wasting tax-payer money to provide companies with free labour
-putting underqualified/inexperienced/unvetted people in jobs with far too much responsibility(working with kids etc...)
-distorting our unemployment figures
-putting existing paid jobs at risk
-being used to makeup for a shortfall of skills in the public service due to the recruitment embargo

Good people of AH, what can I do about this fiasco? It just makes me so angry thinking about this highly unsustainable and extremely exploitative scheme being always skewed in a positive light by our media and government :mad:

Trhiggy83

This has been covered a hundred times and makes me angry too. Its a ridiculous scheme. It has been abused by employers and you cant blame them, its free labour afterall.

B.A._Baracus

JobsBridge is a joke. It's the classic 'give an inch, take a mile' thing.
But of course many fools people on here think it's a great idea.

Best 3 JobsBridge internships I seen were:

1, Waitress in some cafe.
2, Shelf-packer in Tesco.
3, Retail staff in Easons.

FreshKnickers

They took our jobs!

downonthefarm

wheres the scandal?
1.you get out of the house
2.get to meet new people
3.see what its like to earn your money instead of staying in bed till 12 every day

kneemos

If the intern was paid the dole and the employer made up the rest of whatever the normal rate is for the job employers might be inclined to only advertise genuine internships.

Whatnuclearsub

downonthefarm wrote: »

wheres the scandal?
1.you get out of the house
2.get to meet new people
3.see what its like to earn your money instead of staying in bed till 12 every day

You don't get it

washman3

The sole purpose of this scheme is to manipulate unemployment figures so the likes of Burton, Brian Hayes,Howlin,Varadker and Noonan can spout ****e on tv about how they are 'kickstarting the economy'
The idea was originally proposed by another shyster, the very smug Bill 'penny apples' Cullen, who is now also in serious financial difficulties as a result of his forays into property speculation.
What can you do.? never vote for FG or Labour again and urge others to do the same. I assume you are up to speed on the other option,Fianna Fail.? well they don't even deserve to be mentioned.

Jimbobjoeyman

downonthefarm wrote: »

wheres the scandal?
1.you get out of the house
2.get to meet new people
3.see what its like to earn your money instead of staying in bed till 12 every day

the problem is that the "internships" are exploited and used as little more than free labour.
Its not a problem when you have a genuine internship that actually gives you skills that can be used for career development.
But in its current form its just being used by employers to fill entry level jobs that give you no skills to take forward and is ruining the youth labour market.

It has the potential to be a good scheme that helps people to get experience in better jobs but the jobs offered need tighter control to stop abuse of the system.
But this wont happen as it allows the government to skew unemployment figures favorably.

The Niece

Boyfriend finished up his contract in a well known supermarket because 'there was no more work'

The next week, a load of people started on jobbridge

I hate Jobbridge

returnNull

B.A._Baracus wrote: »

JobsBridge is a joke. It's the classic 'give an inch, take a mile' thing.
But of course many fools people on here think it's a great idea.

Best 3 JobsBridge internships I seen were:

1, Waitress in some cafe.
2, Shelf-packer in Tesco.
3, Retail staff in Easons.

`
I seen one for a kitchen porter

The Niece

The Niece wrote: »

Boyfriend finished up his contract in a well known supermarket because 'there was no more work'

The next week, a load of people started on jobbridge

I hate Jobbridge

Name them, they deserve the bad publicity.

kneemos

Deleted User wrote: »

Name them, they deserve the bad publicity.

Wouldn't be hard to guess.

kraggy

downonthefarm wrote: »

wheres the scandal?
1.you get out of the house
2.get to meet new people
3.see what its like to earn your money instead of staying in bed till 12 every day

Cause everyone on the dole stays in bed til 12 everyday.

Idiotic post, or troll. Not quite sure.

Tell you what, let's see you smile when your employer cuts ties with you and takes on an "intern" instead.

Then let's see you be satisfied with going out packing shelves thereby giving some supermarket cheap labour while pissing off former real employees.

WumBuster

downonthefarm wrote: »

wheres the scandal?
1.you get out of the house
2.get to meet new people
3.see what its like to earn your money instead of staying in bed till 12 every day

This is the worrying thing. There are people out there who are willing to put up with this work for free nonsense with silly rationalizing like this. You could do all that with a charity.

downonthefarm

ok but what is wrong with teaching kids to earn the money instead of just handing it out every thursday

hfallada

The worst abuse of job bridge was oxigen waste company, who fired staff to replace them with free labour. Like a 6 month internship as a barista. You can learn the skills in about 6 hours.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/fifteen-firms-banned-from-jobbridge-work-scheme-1.1371584

keelanj69

Ice cream waiting staff internship.

That would look great on a CV.

Del2005

washman3 wrote: »

What can you do.? never vote for FG or Labour again and urge others to do the same. I assume you are up to speed on the other option,Fianna Fail.? well they don't even deserve to be mentioned.

So who's left to vote for? The ones who got us into the mess or the Shinners :eek: They're all as bad as each other and only interested in lining their own pockets or ego.

Mars Bar

And the ****ing CE scheme is as bad as it. You have to be a traveller of 18 years or older or 25 years old if you're not a traveller.

Saw my ideal job opportunity on the FAS website and they wouldn't accept me (I turned 24 yesterday).
****ing livid I was.

downonthefarm

you cant expect to walk in and get the cushy jobs coz you have a few letters after your name

bnt

What scandal? Offer employers free labour, and you're surprised that they take advantage? As soon as it was announced, it was obvious this was going to be abused. If you don't believe me, go back and read the original thread from two years ago. :rolleyes:

WumBuster

downonthefarm wrote: »

ok but what is wrong with teaching kids to earn the money instead of just handing it out every thursday

Its not just green horn kids straight out of school who are in these schemes. A lot of long term unemployed as well. Its distorting the labour market and driving down wages. Its creating more problems than its solving.

Jimbobjoeyman

downonthefarm wrote: »

ok but what is wrong with teaching kids to earn the money instead of just handing it out every thursday

because instead of handing it out every thursday the person being exploited by the scheme might have a proper job instead.
And its not kids getting the jobs -

Faith+1

hfallada wrote: »

The worst abuse of job bridge was oxigen waste company, who fired staff to replace them with free labour. Like a 6 month internship as a barista. You can learn the skills in about 6 hours.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/fifteen-firms-banned-from-jobbridge-work-scheme-1.1371584

That link scared the sh*t outa me!!! Joan Burton's face close up....urgh :eek:

ASJ112

When there are positions for kitchen porters, that is the clearest sign that it's being abused. Some poor lad doing 9 months as a KP for free

Not really sure why you need A levels for a KP internship at The Glyde Inn & Linn Duachaill

shankespony

Two experiences i have come across, friend went into Civil Service on internship, he was a post grad and they taunted him about being the teaboy, had to threaten to write to his TD to get away from the place.

Second was with a prestige car mark, let marketing job and got intern for sfa , shocking, Paddy want his employees for nothing.

CuriousG

http://jobseeker.fas.ie/Default.aspx?q=pS5j1dGu3mbRDk2RtTi1IPcYUlAhpV40ZuB+vWgi9hZBhrQEDJEviLGzTFv7ckuoYRDwGxdnGnigjzyMMcfO4GKLu7w/97zRPXFPIAMjj0ZzqAE2QfXZJD5WMcbscUMe5hvAf1C0GomRYNP2W4HkT1GUdf/7w2Z4V6iTCZixuHdiRlaakoyhmg2LAiKxyLhOFY93Dy3cNKgJmrkLEO1P9Z3NSx3HCTDnBH98Fvh5+r62F8LTC/XLxFEOthe5kIGECy6fs9QRCbYv9qhMhwl5MqO8rA/SCijsqYqUEFWBzk0vlEQRChMsYOyc/+D6EpFlwpxphKwHZ+XMe5+7kQSpRvMOM9ffg3t93KuDtt0Zv8l0KpXVRltTzLcApDM0K7rf

Of every job on that link, there are VERY few that aren't entry level. I wouldn't mind if they were useful job-bridge positions, but they are always ones that any idiot from the street could do. Have posted about my bad experience with job bridge in the past on this site before so wont repeat myself, but I know why people do them, I hate the very principle of the things and think they are vile, but at times find myself so desperate that I will still consider doing on for something to do. They prey on people desperate to get their foot in the door only to be used as a cleaner/tea maker/ etc for the whole nine/six months and not actually learning anything about the job. If a young person does it, they are working 40 hrs for 150, which is bad in itself. I done a few days long 'trial' for a job bridge, and was expected to stay two hours longer than the paid staff, they all got to leave while I was sitting there like an idiot..

It makes me so angry but I am unsure what can be done, TDs will just ignore letters/not be able to do much anyway. Sad state we are living in.

As for the person that said 'so you won't sleep in till twelve' - a personal note, I am on the dole and am up by 8 every morning. we are not all lazy like you imply.

Paddy Cow

downonthefarm wrote: »

ok but what is wrong with teaching kids to earn the money instead of just handing it out every thursday

There is a big difference between teaching kids to earn money and putting both employed and unemployed adults with financial responsibilites in a vulnerable position. For every person who is let go so that the company can take on an intern, two people end up claiming social welfare.

Internships started out as a way for higher educated people to get some valuable hands on experience and further their careers. Most would get a basic salary but even if they didn't, they would work part time as the experience and contacts they gained were invaluable. An example is apprentice solicitors who do in office training along with their academic training.

It's really taking the p!ss when you see basic jobs such as waitressing/shelf stacking etc advertised as "internships". I'm not knocking these jobs and have do them myself but you don't need to work 39 hours a week for nine months to get trained up in these positions. The real kick in the face is being told at the end of the "internship" that despite all your hard work for less than minimum wage the company cannot offer a position as they have a new batch of interns to exploit teach valuable skills to.

downonthefarm

im afraid nowadays its who you know and what you know

Paddy Cow

downonthefarm wrote: »

im afraid nowadays its who you know and what you know

It's always been that way. My mother got me my first three jobs (first as a leaflet delivery girl for DHBurkes, second as a summer nanny and third as a waitress). It's not just the elite who move within their circle. Had the employers not asked my mother if she knew anyone looking for work, I would never have gotton any of those jobs.

I did a FAS course and it was drilled into us on CV week to network, network, network. It's not what you know, it's who you know. It's all about making contacts and building up a reputation. In fairness, if it was your business would you take a chance on a random stranger or someone who came recommended from someone who has done business with them before and would do business with them again?

I think in Ireland we confuse networking with brown nosing. No one respects a kiss ass but there is nothing wrong with putting yourself out there professionally.

MadsL

A company I used to work for had a guy who had worked for them for four years, and then been made redundant. He was brought back as a jobbridge intern.



...He's in his sixties!

Jimbobjoeyman

MadsL wrote: »

A company I used to work for had a guy who had worked for them for four years, and then been made redundant. He was brought back as a jobbridge intern.



...He's in his sixties!

for the same job in the same company ?
If so that's a disgusting abuse of the system and possibly grounds for legal action I would think ??

NegativeCreep

downonthefarm wrote: »

wheres the scandal?
1.you get out of the house
2.get to meet new people
3.see what its like to earn your money instead of staying in bed till 12 every day

Try being a student looking for a job and you'll realise how infuriating the whole thing is.

washman3

Del2005 wrote: »

So who's left to vote for? The ones who got us into the mess or the Shinners :eek: They're all as bad as each other and only interested in lining their own pockets or ego.

Push for a new party to be formed at every opportunity. its whats needed.

Paddy Cow

downonthefarm wrote: »

you cant expect to walk in and get the cushy jobs coz you have a few letters after your name

The average cost to the taxpayer for putting a student through university for a year is about €12,000 (including fees and grant). After a four year degree that's nearly €50,000. Where is the logic in then forcing them into a basic internsip for nine months that will have nothing to do with the letters after their name at a further cost of almost €10,000 only for them to have nothing worthwhile to show for it at the end? It's better to get them into jobs where they will be high earners and paying high levels of tax so that not only do we recoup the cost of their education but they also contribute to society in the long term.

I hate to burst your begrudery bubble but it's not the people with cushy jobs or letters after their names who lose out because of internships. If you actually saw some of these "internships" being advertised I would hope it would make you change your mind.

Paddy Cow

MadsL wrote: »

A company I used to work for had a guy who had worked for them for four years, and then been made redundant. He was brought back as a jobbridge intern.



...He's in his sixties!

:eek: That's a new low. It's.... I actually have no words it's so depressing

Kristopherus

washman3 wrote: »

The sole purpose of this scheme is to manipulate unemployment figures so the likes of Burton, Brian Hayes,Howlin,Varadker and Noonan can spout ****e on tv about how they are 'kickstarting the economy'
The idea was originally proposed by another shyster, the very smug Bill 'penny apples' Cullen, who is now also in serious financial difficulties as a result of his forays into property speculation.
What can you do.? never vote for FG or Labour again and urge others to do the same. I assume you are up to speed on the other option,Fianna Fail.? well they don't even deserve to be mentioned.

That leaves just the Shinners to vote for:eek::eek::eek:.

downonthefarm

do any of the foreigners have to do this scheme

Jimbobjoeyman

Kristopherus wrote: »

That leaves just the Shinners to vote for:eek::eek::eek:.

cant be any worse than the shower we've had.
may as well give them a go :pac: :pac: :pac:

Boofle

When JobBridge was first introduced it was supposed to wind up by July 2013 - this hasn't happened. But it should. As the OP pointed out the FAS jobs website is just full of these Job Bridge "internships". The majority are not internships at all - they are jobs - but the employer is not going to fork out a wage when he can get a slave, sorry 'intern', now is he. . . . .

It is just horrendous that so many unscrupulous employers are getting completely free labour. The whole thing is just a farce at this stage :mad:

JustAThought

Boofle wrote: »

When JobBridge was first introduced it was supposed to wind up by July 2013 - this hasn't happened. But it should. As the OP pointed out the FAS jobs website is just full of these Job Bridge "internships". The majority are not internships at all - they are jobs - but the employer is not going to fork out a wage when he can get a slave, sorry 'intern', now is he. . . . .

It is just horrendous that so many unscrupulous employers are getting completely free labour. The whole thing is just a farce at this stage :mad:

Met my old boss & finance guy the other day for drinks -asked how things were getting on -fine -was told-two new " Interns" starting -did you replace X & Y people I asked. Met with shuffling silence & embarrassment. The two new " interns" we're replacing full time salaried staff who had left/moved on.
Disgusted.

COYVB

Makes employers who are actually offering decent internships look bad. The word will be tarnished in Ireland now forever

Seanbass

Kristopherus wrote: »

That leaves just the Shinners to vote for:eek::eek::eek:.

God forbid.

Especially because FF, FG and Labour have all been so squeaky clean...

flutered

WumBuster wrote: »

This is the worrying thing. There are people out there who are willing to put up with this work for free nonsense with silly rationalizing like this. You could do all that with a charity.

the grief with all this is the fas mob and the crowd in the dole offices gives people two choices jobridge or no dole, a family member had to be acessed by fas recently, (not to get him a job, but to keep the people interviewing in jobs) what great job opertunity was he offered, a farm in canada were looking for victims to milk 2,000, yes 2k cows, it seems the cows never see the light of day.

jimboy2011

I seen one recently for "counter assistant" in a Takeaway!!!

downonthefarm

in the place i work it is all the hr family relations ect while i know its not the same but frustrating nonetheless

hfallada

You need to remember there isnt a single proper business person in the dail ( at bar or a shop keeper doesnt count). You cant seriously except some one who is only qualified to teach some ****ty LC subject to have a logically idea to solve unemployment. Like members of the dail put their friends as directors of semi state companies and then people question why it is losing money.

Boofle

JustAThought wrote: »

Met my old boss & finance guy the other day for drinks -asked how things were getting on -fine -was told-two new " Interns" starting -did you replace X & Y people I asked. Met with shuffling silence & embarrassment. The two new " interns" we're replacing full time salaried staff who had left/moved on.
Disgusted.

That is just absolutely shocking. I was taken on last year as an 'intern' in a solicitors; - only realised on day one that I was actually covering a maternity leave!! The employer was too tight to pay someone for the 6 months! It really is sad how people are being exploited on this scheme/scam.

I will never forget how soul destroying it was every month when everyone in the office was on a high as it was payday If it was a genuine internship and I was actually learning new skills and gaining valuable experience I wouldn't have minded - but in hindsight I was just a fully functioning, very capable and experienced person working for free.

wazzer1

downonthefarm wrote: »

wheres the scandal?
1.you get out of the house
2.get to meet new people
3.see what its like to earn your money instead of staying in bed till 12 every day

I dont need to get out to meet new people pal.
I need to pay my mortage.
And i knew what it was like to get out of bed at half 4 every morning for the last 10 years up until 2 weeks ago.
Its yet another f*ck up in this glorius country of ours.

Trhiggy83

I know a lad who done a job bridge scheme last year only for the social welfare to cut his rent allowance because he was earning 50 quid extra. Talk about sending out the wrong message to people.