BY JACOB FIERMAN
With the economy holding on by a thread, businesses across the nation are looking to keep costs down. Unpaid internships have been on the rise over the past few years, and the ethics involved are questionable. Companies who abuse unpaid interns are violating the moral standards of the work force. Not paying interns defeats the purpose of introducing them to the “real world” of business.
According to InternBridge.com, a management consulting company that does research on internships, 18% of 12,000 student interns surveyed were both unpaid and received no class credits. Of the students that did receive college credits for their internship, 71% had to pay for their credits. If a student is doing commercial work with little or no training, then they are not considered an intern and deserve pay.
More and more companies are searching for interns who are willing to work without pay. Recently, GoHop.ie, a travel agency, was looking for an intern who has proficient experience in web design and programs such as Adobe Photoshop, and who is also willing to work for little or no pay. The site mentioned there were no benefits for its “interns” and that there was no training involved. Therefore, to be proficient at this job, skill and prior knowledge is needed. If someone doesn’t need training and is essentially qualified for the job, then they deserve their cut of the profit. Doing the work of an employee should mean you deserve at least the minimum wage.
Not paying interns is unjust, but why should companies even care? The string of unpaid labor harms the student, not the employer. According to businesses, their interns are “gaining knowledge in that field” and “experiencing what it is like to be in the workplace.” But if the student has the capability to do the work given to them by the managers of their internships, don’t they already have knowledge in that field? The students may become familiar with a real work environment, however they are not receiving income for their hard work. Our generation will not have the benefit of learning to manage their money and see exactly what it is like to be a paid employee if companies continue to abuse their interns.
However, measures are being taken in order to reduce the labor extortion that is unpaid internships. The Labor Department of the United States created a six item criteria for unpaid internships. Some of the key points on the list are; the training is for the benefit of the trainee, the trainees do not replace regular workers, the trainee must recognize that they will not necessarily be hired, and that the trainee realizes they will be receiving no wage throughout the internship. These factors make up the difference between an unpaid internship and a job and encourage students seeking work experience to watch out for employers just looking for free labor.
Unpaid internships take advantage of students and deprive them of proper work experience. In a world where students are striving to be the best, internships play a huge role for teen’s futures. Companies should take into consideration that by depriving their young workers today they are robbing their own future.
