Should all internships be paid?
Internships, in recent years, have almost become a right of passage for any newly college graduate looking to take their next step. Very few entry level jobs hire individuals without some form of prior experience and with the job market becoming so competitive, it is crucial to partake in some form of practice. This is where internships come in. While some them are paid, many believe that an intern serves the purpose of shadowing the most seasoned employees a company has to offer and to participate in a multitude of activities and projects with tangible outcomes that will undoubtedly benefit the student’s career growth and allow them to project their abilities in their future job. Although this sounds very beneficial, after conducting some preliminary research, I was able to find how unpaid internships perpetuate inequality through favoring the privileged who can afford to make no money on top of exploiting workers, taking jobs from would be entry-level employees, and perhaps most importantly, break longstanding labor laws. A stringent six-part test laid out by the Labor Department in 2010 made it clear that employers must pass all of the criteria if they want to have unpaid interns on staff. One of the requirements is that the position be “similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.” I think that’s where the school credit trend comes from and how employers try to mask what their internship programs entail. More important are much more difficult to satisfy requirements like the employer “derives no immediate advantage” from the intern’s work, and “the intern does not displace regular employees”. After evaluating all this information, I feel like many post college graduates get sucked into participating in internships to avoid the shame of failing to find a job. Therefore, companies abuse this power, and many, in fact, require their interns to show proof of graduating from college and expect them to do work that entry-level employees do.
Citation:
“Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act”. U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division, US Wage and Hour Division, 2018, http://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/legacy/files/whdfs71.pdf
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