In the last 12 months, over 18,300 jobseekers and 2,100 businesses have accessed the Government’s Skills To Work website to find out about government skills programmes. These statistics have been published as the Skills To Work campaign celebrates its one year anniversary this week.
The main aim of Skills To Work is to make it easier for both jobseekers and employers to easily access information on training options available to them.
Skills To Work brings together the key Government initiatives introduced since 2011 to support jobseekers access the training and work experience they need and to encourage businesses to employ people currently on the Live Register. The five programmes which fall under the Skills to Work programme are: Springboard, Momentum, Skillnets, JobBridge and JobsPlus.
At the heart of this campaign is the website, www.skillstowork.ie. The website directs jobseekers and business owners through a short list of questions in less than one minute, and then provides information on which Skills to Work initiatives they may be eligible for, as well as information on other government supports. This website was recently nominated for a Digital Media Award for Best Public Life for using digital media channels as an awareness raising tool by Government.
Other numbers of interest from this campaign are:
- Of the jobseekers who used the Skills To Work website, 28% were interested in a course that will help them to get a job, while 34% were interested in upskilling or learning a new skill.
- 45% of jobseekers who used the website were under 35, while 55% were over 35.
- 52% of those have been unemployed for less than 12 months.
- 53% of employers were interested in taking someone on work placement or taking on an intern, while 31% were interested in availing of government incentives to hire a new employee (JobsPlus).
- The top three sectors that employers who used Skills to Work were involved in wereManagement/Administration/Business, Accounting /Finance /International Financial Services, and Sales/Marketing.
Speaking about the one-year anniversary of the Skills To Work campaign, Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton TD said:
“Unemployment remains one of the biggest challenges facing our country. Getting people back to work and ensuring that economic recovery is felt by working families is our priority. Through the Pathways to Work strategy introduced by the Government, unemployment has fallen from a crisis peak of 15.1% to 10%. With schemes like Skills to Work we are making it easier for jobseekers and employers to quickly find out what initiatives they qualify for, and how to apply, so we can continue to ensure people have the skills and experience they need to get back to work.”
Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan TD, said: “Our aim with this campaign was to make it easier to navigate Government so that more jobseekers can avail of the courses and programmes of greatest benefit to them. With over 20,000 people engaging with the campaign over the last year, it’s clear that there is good engagement with Skills To Work and the campaign is helping people navigate Government better.”
Minister of State with responsibility for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD, said: “Skills to Work is an excellent demonstration of the range of government schemes and supports available to both jobseekers and employers alike. Alongside the new on-line tool, the Skills To Work team is meeting directly with jobseekers and employers, including through having a presence at key job fairs and roadshows around the country. This continued engagement will help jobseekers and businesses to avail fully of this range of government supports.”
ENDS
Notes to editor
This campaign was a specific measure in both Pathways to Work and Action Plan for Jobs 2013 and involves a strong collaborative approach by Department of Education and Skills, Department of Social Protection, Department of the Taoiseach, HEA, Skillnets and SOLAS, the Further Education and Training Authority.
The five programmes which fall under the Skills to Work programme are:
Springboard+:
Springboard+ provides free, part-time and flexible higher education reskilling courses at certificate, degree and masters level. It is open to unemployed and previously employed people who are actively seeking employment.
Springboard+ provides education opportunities in areas where there are skills shortages, such as ICT and entrepreneurship. More than 21,000 jobseekers have taken up a Springboard place (including the ICT Skills Conversion Courses) since 2011. A further round of places for 2015 was launched by Minister Damien English and Minister Jan O’Sullivan on the 7th of May.
Further information can be found at www.springboardcourses.ie
Momentum:
Co-financed by the EU, MOMENTUM funds the provision of free training projects to allow the long-term unemployed gain skills and access work opportunities in identified growth sectors. The categories where projects are funded include Construction, ICT, Transport, Distribution and Logistics, Tourism, Financial Services and Manufacturing (technology).
Over 6,500 places were made available through Momentum in 2014. Further information on how to apply and the courses available can be found at www.momentumskills.ie
JobBridge
JobBridge assists individuals in breaking the cycle where they are unable to get a job without experience. JobBridge provides internship opportunities of either 6 or 9 months. The scheme is open to unemployed people at all education and skills levels who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments or are signing on for credits for at least 3 of the last 6 months (78 days). Interns receive an allowance of €50 per week on top of their existing social welfare entitlement. This is payable for the period of their internship.
Further information is available at www.jobbridge.ie.
Skillnets
Skillnets supports the training needs of Irish businesses, employees and job-seekers through over 60 training networks nationwide across a range of sectors and regions. Skillnets actively supports and works with businesses in Ireland to address their current and future skills needs. Job-seekers can benefit from two different types of training through Skillnets - integrated training courses with employees, and dedicated conversion courses with work placements in areas of employment potential. Find a training course: www.skillnets.ie/training.
JobsPlus
JobsPlus is an employer incentive scheme which encourages and rewards employers who offer full-time jobs to the long-term unemployed. Monthly cash payments are made to qualifying employers to offset wage costs. There are two levels of cash incentives: a payment of €10,000 over two years to an employer for each person recruited who has been unemployed for more than two years, and a payment of €7,500 over two years for each person recruited who has been unemployed for more than 12 months but less than 24 months. Under the JobsPlus Youth part of the scheme, launched earlier this year, the qualifying period for JobsPlus for jobseekers aged under 25 has been reduced to 4 months. See www.jobsplus.ie for more information.