40% of JobBridge interns in Cavan quit early

 

Almost 40% of all interns who signed up to the National Internship Scheme, JobBridge, in Co Cavan, quit before their six or nine month work cycle had concluded, new figures reveal.
According to the statistics released by the Department for Social Protection, 144 of the total 363 interns who engaged with the scheme since January 2014 up to the first quarter of this year, left prior to their term of employment concluding.
The primary reasons for leaving were given as either got a job elsewhere or got a job with the host organisation, or 'placement wasn’t suitable’.
Regular choices over the 31-month period also included as due to 'personal reasons’, or the applicant had 'returned to job search’.
In 2014, a total of 184 persons applied for JobBridge in Co Cavan, with 107 people completing the internship, with 153 applying last year, of which 97 completed the allocated work period.
In the first three months of this year alone, 26 people have signed up for internships across the county, 11 of whom have already left early.
The National Internship Scheme was introduced in July 2011 in response to the unprecedented collapse in the economy – particularly the sharp increase in unemployment. The aim of the scheme was to help unemployed people to break the cycle whereby they could not get a job without experience, but could not get experience without a job.
To date, a total of 46,537 people started an internship, of which 15,211 progressed into employment immediately on completing the internship. Independent research indicates that c60% of jobseekers who participated in JobBridge progressed into paid employment within five months of completing an internship. There are currently 4,005 participants on the programme nationwide.
By comparison in neighbouring counties, 267 out of 439 people in Co Monaghan have completed the intern process since 2014, 99 of 191 in Co Leitrim, 106 of 177 in Co Longford and 342 of 659 in Co Meath.