Unpaid internships used to be a trusted route to securing a paying job. An organization would welcome a young person (the intern), allow them to experience the workplace, then decide if the intern was a good enough fit to be offered a permanent, paid position. At the very least, the intern received workplace experience in an industry and could list it on their resume, making them more desirable to future employers.
Current employers also find interns desirable, unfortunately for the wrong reasons: an estimate from a year ago reckons $2-billion is saved annually from interns (and one can only imagine that figure has risen). Although internships are intended to be learning experiences, many interns work just as much as an average employee with no acknowledgement for their work – and no potential to transition into permanent work. Some companies rely solely on interns to sustain their business, which is even more exploitative.
This article was originally published on Careerwise.
