Almost half of Galway participants dropped out of JobBridge

Almost 45% of Galway participants on JobBridge dropped out before completing the Government scheme, new figures reveal.

Since JobBridge was introduced in 2011, a total of 3,079 participants in Galway availed of work placements and internships in local businesses and organisations.

Of these, some 1,384 did not complete the full six or nine months that they had signed up to.

The figures were supplied by the Department of Social Protection. JobBridge is no longer taking new applicants.

Leo Varadkar, the Minister, said the initiative was brought in to respond to the, “unprecedented collapse of our economy and particularly the sharp and dramatic increase in unemployment.”

“Its main aim was to help unemployed jobseekers to break the vicious cycle of ‘no experience no job, but no job no experience’,” he said.

Nationally, some 45% of participants finish their placements early, which mirrored the situation in Galway.

This is for a number of reasons, according to research carried out by the department.

Almost half of those who finish early said it was to take up employment and a further 7% go on to further education, training or another internship.

About 30% left for a variety of personal, domestic or health reasons, the survey showed.

For more on this story, see this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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