Summer Career Placement (SCP) Program - November 1997

Summer Career Placement (SCP) Program

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• Introduction
• Program Description
• Evaluation Approach
• Key Findings

This brief summarizes the evaluation findings of the Summer Career Placements (SCP) Program. The evaluation was funded and managed by Evaluation and Data Development at National Headquarters, Human Resources Development Canada.

The Summer Career Placements (SCP) Program is a government and employer partnership that encourages student hiring and work experience leading to future careers. It is considered to be the main engine of the Government of Canada's student job creation. SCP was expected to create 45,000 summer jobs in 1996 with a total budget of $90 million.

SCP provides wage subsidies to private, public (educational institutions, hospitals and municipalities) and not-for-profit sector employers to create career-related summer jobs for students. The amount of the subsidy depends on a number of factors: employer sector, provincial/territorial adult minimum wage rate, related overhead costs, whether the hired student has disabilities, and job accommodation requirements.

Eligible employers in all three sectors, who would not be able to create jobs without funding, are invited to submit a proposal to the program. Proposals are judged on how well they prepare students for the labor market and the type of supervision, learning and work experience they provide. Employers gain through hiring high school, college and university students with relevant job skills, while students benefit by gaining experience in their chosen fields.

Participants must be registered full-time students during the preceding academic year and must intend to return to school on a full-time basis in the next academic year. They must also be legally entitled to work in Canada, and they cannot have another full-time job.

Program Objectives

The objectives of the Summer Career Placements Program are to:

• assist students in preparing for their future entry into the labor market through career relevant summer employment by means of partnerships between government and employers of all sectors;
• create incremental jobs that would not have been created without the financial assistance provided under SCP; and
• provide students with income to allow them to pursue their education.

To address the evaluation issues, four sources of information were used.

Document Review

A document review relating to the SCP Program in particular, as well as to pre-existing federal summer job creation programs (e.g., SEED, Challenge '85, Opportunities of Youth, etc.) was applied to the study.

Key Informant Interviews

These interviews were conducted with HRDC staff, in the regions and at HQ, responsible for the design and delivery of SCP. These included interviews with SCP coordinators (11), HRCC managers (4 rural, 3 urban), manager of 1 HRCC for Students, and key NHQ staff (2). As well, a sample of 19 employers representing each of the three main sectors (at least 6 from each category) i.e., private, public, and not-for-profit, were interviewed.

A Case Study

Labatts was the subject of a case study (which was included in the sample of employers to be interviewed) as well as two of the charities it helps fund.

A Representative Survey of Employers and Participating Students

The survey included 1,000 employers and 658 students, and was used to examine the impact of SCP in providing students who are returning to school with career-oriented summer employment and assisting with the school-to-work transition.

Employer and Participant Profiles

More than half (51.6%) of the employers using the SCP came from the non-profit sector. Another third (31.0%) came from the private sector while the remaining fifth (17.4%) came from the public sector. In addition, almost two-thirds (62.7%) of the employers surveyed hired just one student under the SCP in 1996. Another fifth (21.3%) hired two students under the program while a tenth (10.5%) hired three or four. Of the remaining 5.4%, almost half (2.5%) employed five or six students.

Almost two-thirds (65.9%) of the participants are female compared to one-third (34.1%) male. A little more than two-fifths (41.2%) of the participants are between 15 and 19 years of age, almost half (46.6%) are 20 to 24 years of age, while the remaining 12.0% are more than 24 years of age. Some 71.0% of participants reported attending a post-secondary institution in September 1995 compared to 25.6% who attended high school. About 3.3% of the participants did neither. Some 92.4% of SCP participants will be returning to school in September 1996. Of the 7.3% not returning, almost half (48.4%) will be looking for work and 47.9% will be working. Some 4.2% of participants have disabilities, about 6.4% are aboriginal and 6.7% are members of a visible minority.

Work Experience

SCP provides slightly more career-related experience and financial support than more general work experience. Both participants and employers felt strongly that SCP participants gained new skills.

While the information collected suggests that the program has resulted in the creation of many new jobs, the number of jobs that would have not been created without the program (incrementality) can be weakened in several ways. Excluding employers who would not have hired a student if the wage subsidy had not been available (69.0%), almost two-fifths (37.2%) of the remainder said that they would not have paid the same wages to their student if they had not received any assistance from the SCP (presumably they would have paid less). This compares with almost three-fifths (57.3%) who would have paid the same wages.

The majority (71.3%) of participants feel that their summer job will help them get full-time work in their chosen field compared to 19.7% who do not think it will help. Almost all (95.2%) employers felt that the summer employment experience of the SCP student will improve his/her chances of finding a full-time job after completing school. The remainder were split between don't know (2.6%) and no (2.2%). Almost two-thirds (63.0%) of the employers surveyed said that their organization intended to re-hire their SCP student at a later date.

Encouraging private sector participation in 1996 may have weakened the overall work experience - both career development and incrementality - of the program. This is because the private sector offered the least career-related jobs, and was the most likely to hire students had the subsidy not been available.

Post-secondary students had a more favorable perception of the program's benefits to them than high school students.

Program Efficiency

Employers and staff commented on the lateness of the program announcement. They suggest that a "regular" announcement - taking place no later than a week or two before spring break every year - would go a long way towards helping businesses and students plan. Other HRDC programs are not hindered by this.

Very few new employers enter the SCP program as most HRDC staff do not formally market the program.

About two-fifths (40.4%) of the employers used the HRCCs for Students to hire a student and a few of them (2.8%) felt that the HRCC's screening of the students could be improved.

Employers do not incur any significant administrative costs as a consequence of the current wage subsidy process.

The extent to which monitoring occurs varies by region, ranging from 10% to 100%. Some monitor only "high risk" employers (those for whom some complaint may have been received) and new employers to ensure that they do not make mistakes.

In general, both employers and HRDC staff held mixed views about the need to change the wage subsidy.

Program Satisfaction

The vast majority (90.7%) of SCP students liked their summer job. Almost all employers (94.5%) were fully satisfied with the overall performance of their SCP student.

Continuing Need

Almost every participant thought that a government program that tries to prepare students for full-time jobs through summer work experience was a good idea. Almost every employer (98.6%) would be interested in applying should the SCP program, or a similar program, be available in 1997.