College students are often encouraged, if not required, to intern for companies in their field to gain work experience. When those necessary hours are unpaid, however, many students aren’t able to work without compensation.
Unpaid internships put lower-class students at a disadvantage because they favor wealthier students who don’t need a paycheck to participate in them. They are inherently classist, but unfortunately people see them as a necessary part of the college and work experience.
Internships are already based in class discrimination because many require networking and connections that lower class students do not have access to. Unpaid internships are even worse because lower class students cannot afford to work for free.
While students will often gain useful experience, internships tend to rely on menial work that doesn’t prepare the student for their career. Students often hope that they will receive a job offer when they finish their internships. Yet, companies know they can continue to receive new interns who will work for free so they have no incentive to pay their interns if there are students who will do work for free.
When companies do not pay their interns, it shows how little they value their work and the interns themselves. Hard work should be paid for whether the worker is an intern or not.
Internships are no longer reserved for college students, according to The New York Times. In fact, more recent graduates are entering the workforce through internships, but internships rarely promise a job opportunity.
Many interns find themselves without a job and in debt after their internship is over. Therefore, unpaid internships put students, or recent graduates, in an unfair situation where they have little to nothing to show for their free labor.
The culture behind unpaid internships is also inherently toxic. Internships are seen as way to merge oneself into their desired field, but if a student cannot afford to drop their entire life to work for no pay-off, then it is said that they do not want it enough. The hope of a job offer will not pay the bills.
While students can work another job and work as an unpaid intern, it often leads to little sleep and extreme stress. Students should not have to sacrifice their mental health to be able to intern.
In addition, unpaid internships put companies at a disadvantage. When companies rely on unpaid labor, they limit their application pool because not everyone has the privilege to work for free. Therefore, the companies risk not receiving their best candidates.
Student teaching is another example of an unpaid internship. Not only is the student not getting paid while they teach, but they also have to pay tuition, which often puts them in debt.
When students cannot afford internships, they are often left to work jobs outside of their career path, such as retail and food service. While this means that bills will be paid, it is not helpful for those who are trying to break into their career path.
If a company cannot afford to pay their interns for their hard work, then they should not hire interns. More so, interns should not be in charge of buying the coffee or sorting the mail. They should be allowed to work in an atmosphere that will help them learn more about their desired career.