The Youthreach Employee Wellbeing Report 2022

The Youthreach Programme, introduced in 1988, is the Irish government’s primary response to early school leaving providing young people 15 and 20 years who have dropped out of mainstream education, with access to alternative education and training, progression and social inclusion. Youthreach integrates education, training and work experience with a strong personal development emphasis for 6,780 young people in 2020, delivered by 1,100+ frontline staff country-wide in 112 Youthreach centres funded from the SOLAS Further Education and Training (FET) programme. Youthreach teaching staff work with a student cohort who often come from marginalised and disadvantaged communities and have dropped out of mainstream education for a multitude of reasons. The survey was distributed to Youthreach employees via email addresses available in the public domain and snowball recruitment in December 2021. 325 people, one-third of Youthreach sector employees, responded to the survey. Two out of three participants were female; most respondents were aged over 40 and were in their role for over 10 years. Respondents were located across all provinces and held various roles in Youthreach including Youthreach Manager, Coordinator, Resource Worker and Teacher. All centre sizes were represented. The report indicates significant challenges facing frontline Youthreach sector staff including workload pressures, working in evenings, weekends and holidays periods, inadequate infrastructure, and a lack of recognition of the role and responsibilities of teaching staff. Despite workplace stress, the findings nonetheless indicate relatively high wellbeing among Youthreach staff. Employees reported significant psychological and social resilience helping them deal with work-related challenges and cope with adversity. The report also highlights the dedication and commitment of Youthreach staff to their student cohort. The lack of recognition of Youthreach staff at a systemic level was identified as a key concern, with participants describing a lack of awareness or consideration of the value of the Youthreach programme, especially at a statutory level. Researchers also found that personal commitment, values and positive relationships that are formed between Youthreach employees and learners underpin the resilience of Youthreach staff