One in six still jobless after finishing training courses

LESS than one in six people who undertook a range of free training courses for the unemployed are still out of work.

But while 42% are working and a similar proportion have gone on to further studies, the course providers have only obtained the current status of just over half the 10,163 people who completed some of the 54 prog-rammes under the Government’s €29.5 million Labour Market Activation Fund (LMAF).

The findings, which are contained in a consultants’ analysis of the Department of Education-run fund, show that the impact of employment generated from progress of participants to date is between €31.5m and €54.1m a year, with savings from people moving off the live register adding another €12m to €21m per annum to the benefits.

The LMAF was launched in March 2010 to provide courses from basic literacy and computer skills through to level 8 degrees in areas such as business, computing and wind energy, ranging from eight weeks to a year in duration. It was aimed at improving the employability of job seekers, with an emphasis on under 35s, the long-term unemployed and those with backgrounds in declining work sectors.

The PA Consulting evaluation shows the status of 54% of the students who completed courses. Just over 1,500 (29% of the 5,361 whose status was known) are in employment, 732 (13%) are self-employed, 2,277 (43%) went on to further education or training and 819 are still jobless.

“The short timeframe since the completion of the LMAF-supported projects (with many only ceasing in June 2011) and their focus on a progression pathway (which often requires further steps before securing employment) means that drawing definitive conclusions on impact is premature,” it states.