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But Ms. Reyes soon soured on the experience. She often worked 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., five days a week. “They had me running out to buy them lunch,” she said. “They had me cleaning out the closets, emptying out the past season’s items.” Asked about her complaints, the fashion firm said, “We are very proud of our internship program, and we take all concerns of this kind very seriously.”
Although many internships provide valuable experience, some unpaid interns complain that they do menial work and learn little, raising questions about whether these positions violate federal rules governing such programs.
Yet interns say they often have no good alternatives. As Friday’s jobs report showed, job growth is weak, and the unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds was 13.2 percent in April.
The article states that some are suing for violation of wage laws. It seems that some industries/organizations are taking advantage of this 'unpaid internship' setup to the fullest degree. It's a sad statement on our job market that such situations are so sought after.
I never had to do an internship, let alone an unpaid one. They just weren't that common back then in my industry. Reading stuff like what's in the article makes me very happy I didn't have to. I hope these court cases lead to some reform or changes in regulation regarding internships. It's legalized slavery.
The company I used to work for LOVED unpaid internships! Basically, if they needed a big project done they would get an engineering student from the local university to intern for free.
This last summer we were switching all of our systems to be paperless, but had about 5 years of records (300,000 pages or so, if I remember correctly) to scan into the computer. The accounting dept. looked around and the best quote they got from an outside company was around $10,000. So, they got a few interns to come in and they did it all for free. Every once in a while they would let them fly in a plane, or sit in on a meeting, but other than that they didn't learn a damn thing about the industry.
Our company easily had the money to pay someone to do it, we were actually doing quite well financially. I don't trust unpaid internships.
It's not slavery. No one is being forced to work. The person has a choice to accept the unpaid internship or not. Ms. Reyes accepted an unpaid internship that by her words, turned out to be not worthwhile, and she quit.
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It's a sad statement on our job market that such situations are so sought after. I hope these court cases lead to some reform or changes in regulation regarding internships
I agree, but the last thing a depressing job market needs is more regulations.
This last summer we were switching all of our systems to be paperless, but had about 5 years of records (300,000 pages or so, if I remember correctly) to scan into the computer. The accounting dept. looked around and the best quote they got from an outside company was around $10,000. So, they got a few interns to come in and they did it all for free. Every once in a while they would let them fly in a plane, or sit in on a meeting, but other than that they didn't learn a damn thing about the industry.
Thats the case with every intern Ive ever seen. They usually are doing jobs that have very little to do with anything the company is doing, and have very little impact on operations, and are something that either doesnt matter if it gets broken/damaged/messed up, is nearly impossible to brake/damage/or mess up, or can be easily corrected if its broken/damaged/messed up.
And the principal purpose of internships is to weaken the natural pursuit of autonomy by new hires; to turn mature men and women back into junior high-schoolers.
This is Korporate Amerika's revenge for the challenge thrown down by the "baby boom" genration back in the 1970's. And unfortunately for all of us, the ability to play the various groups within a diverse work force against each other, coupled with the spread of Political Correctnes (really just another term for sensitized Fascism) is going to allow them to get away with it.
We don't need more "collective benefits" in the form of a union which simply plays politics in its own interest. We need a basic set of employee rights ..... the definition of a point at which an independent-mided employee can deliver a courteious, but firm "No" to unjustified authority without fear of repraisal.
Not an easy quest, I understand. But our post-industrial economy just may have advanced to the point where the first, most basic safeguards can be formulated.
I mean we all have our burdens with the Recession. Young people can't get a foot in the door, older people (I'm 46, husband is 48) are finding it hard to get jobs once we lose them, and everyone is out with a hatred for anyone who gets a job.
When I was done with college, I had loans like most people. I wanted to go to grad school (hey there were no good jobs in 1988-89 either). So I picked a local college, sent them a letter saying I would be a grad assistant if they covered tuition, and they did for a semester.
It's not slavery. No one is being forced to work. The person has a choice to accept the unpaid internship or not. Ms. Reyes accepted an unpaid internship that by her words, turned out to be not worthwhile, and she quit.
I agree, but the last thing a depressing job market needs is more regulations.
Regulations are the only thing stopping capitalist vultures from taking advantage of people in every way possible.
Regulations are the only thing stopping capitalist vultures from taking advantage of people in every way possible.
In bizzaro world, the capitalist will regulate themselves because the free market will neccessitate it.....ask Ron Paul.
Lol.
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