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Ireland launches two new programs to help young jobseekers

Xinhua, February 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

Ireland on Wednesday launched two new programs to help young jobseekers return to work and training.

The two programs, First Steps and JobsPlus Youth, are expected to benefit 3,500 young jobseekers in 2015, according to the Department of Social Protection.

First Steps will offer young jobseekers aged between 18 and 25 the opportunity to gain valuable work experience and training with the help of dedicated assistance from Department of Social Protection case officers.

The target is to provide up to 2,000 work experience placements of six or nine months' duration for young jobseekers during 2015.

JobsPlus Youth is an expansion of the JobsPlus employer incentive scheme, and will see employers receive cash grants to assist with wage costs when they hire unemployed young people.

It is expected to support 1,500 young jobseekers return to work this year.

At present, Ireland's youth unemployment rate went down from 31 percent in 2012 at the height of the crisis to 21.6 percent at end of 2014.

But Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton said the current youth unemployment rate is still far too high.

"While the recovering economy will vastly improve the prospects for many young people leaving school and college, others will still find it hard to take that first step onto the employment ladder. The purpose of First Steps and JobsPlus Youth is to give them that opportunity," she said. Endit