Indecon’s Evaluation of JobBridge

This report is submitted to the Department of Social Protection by Indecon International Economic Consultants. The report represents Indecon’s independent evaluation of JobBridge. JobBridge, the National Internship Scheme, was announced as part of the Government’s Jobs Initiative in May 2011.

The scheme, which was officially launched on 29th June 2011, aims to provide those seeking employment with the opportunity to gain work experience, maintain close links with the labour market and enhance their skills and competencies through an internship opportunity, thereby improving their prospects of securing employment in the future.

JobBridge, like any active labour market intervention, needs to be carefully evaluated in order to consider the probabilities of positive or negative effects, and whether it is likely to increase employment probabilities for participants or otherwise. Any such evaluation faces a number of methodological challenges and this report represents our final evaluation.

JobBridge has a number of potentially useful features, such as its inclusion of job placement and its direct link to the market, which could increase participants’ human capital. It is, however, important to examine the evidence on outturns to date and in that regard, it is hoped that this report will be of assistance to policymakers. A summary of the main findings from the evaluation is presented below, as well as recommendations to inform future improvements to the scheme.