On July 12th, 2021 the Government published Pathways to Work 2021-2025 noting that “the goal of Pathways to Work 2021-2025 is to ensure that as many of these opportunities as possible are filled by people who are unemployed. This includes all unemployed, those whose jobs were lost due to COVID-19, those already on the Live Register pre-pandemic and those in society that face particular challenges in finding and sustaining employment.” (p8)
Amongst the eighty-three commitments Pathways to Work contained was Commitment 62 which sought the “Re-launching and promoting the Employer Youth Employment Charter with a target of signing-up 300 employers.” (p74) In September, 2014 the Tánaiste and Social Protection Minister Joan Burton launched the previous document, entitled the Employment and Youth Activation Charter.
In preparation for the new Charter, the Department of Social Protection (DSP) asked the INOU to consult with young unemployed people about what they would like to see in such a document, what would be helpful for them to find a good job. In total six focus groups were run. The INOU are grateful to the Connections Programme, Finglas, Dublin; Youth Work Ireland in Dundalk and Tipperary; SWAN Youth Services, Dublin; and Accenture, Dublin for their support in organising these Focus Groups.
In response to the question “What commitments would you like Employers to make to help young people access a good job?” the participants sought the following:
- Give opportunities to young people
- Applications welcome from young people
- Applications welcome from young people without experience
- Will treat young people’s applications fairly and will treat young staff fairly
- Welcome diversity
The full report is available at https://www.inou.ie/resources/publications/employers-youth-employment-charter-consultation-report/
On May 28th, 2024 Minister Heather Humphreys and Minister Peter Burke launched the new Charter, now called the Employment and Youth Engagement Charter. In their press release they noted that the new Charter “will support new pathways to employment among young people”; and will call on “employers to provide work experience opportunities for young people and people from disadvantaged groups”.
The Charter contains six options including:
Take advantage of employer incentives and supports which help give jobseekers work experience and offer pathways to employment, including the Work Placement Experience Programme, the JobsPlus Scheme and the Wage Subsidy Scheme;
Avail of an Intreo briefing to find out how they can support the hiring of Intreo candidates;
Host an event to offer advice to jobseekers on how to search for a job, write a CV and prepare for interview;
Offer motivational talks to young jobseekers by sharing your knowledge on how to get job ready, or start a business;
Develop a mentoring programme to offer guidance and support to jobseekers;
Help reduce youth unemployment by recruiting young people with the support of Intreo.
Further information on the Charter is available at https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/cb239-the-employment-and-youth-engagement-charter/?referrer=https://www.gov.ie/Charter/