With job openings scarce, certainly starters, the number of unpaid internships has climbed in recent years, leading federal and state regulators to worry that more employers are illegally using such internships for free labor. Although no specific numbers are available concerning how many paid and unpaid internships are present, these is definitive evidence that the number of unpaid internships is rising dramatically.
Although not all unpaid internships are illegal, 6 legal requirements have to be followed in order to qualify the unpaid internship as legal. Requirements include areas concerning that the internship should by highly educational and the employee does not receive an immediate benefit from the interns work.
The problem is however that these rules are often neglected or not properly followed. Students have to do menial tasks such as cleaning or casual administrative work and do not get paid for this. This can hardly be seen as highly educational. One could even argue that the employers just try to exploit the interns. Due to the economic crisis and lower profit margins these practices are becoming more common throughout America every day. This results in various problems for students. Students feel unimportant and are less motivated to work hard to reach their goals.
On the other hand these internships do lead an increased number of job opportunities. The students get a chance to experience work in their field and socialize with contacts that might later prove to be important for further career development. Hence, the students do get something back from their internships.
Hence, a moral hard case presents itself. Both sides present valid arguments and a choice needs to made. I believe that there is problem and it needs to be dealt with. Exploiting the students is wrong even though they also benefit.
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2 comments:
I do agree with the last sentence of the writer of the article where he states ‘exploiting student is wrong', though I would say morally wrong. I do, however, not agree that students are exploited at an internship, even the worst one. Main reason is that in a well-ordered society there is the value of freedom. Students or starters can always choose whether to continue an internship or not. If the internship is really that bad, humans have the freedom to stop. Therefore, I think that an unpaid internship that people are willing to take, always provides some benefits, like for example networking. So, because humans have the freedom to choose, an unpaid internship is morally permissible.
I disagree with the student above. I think the unpaid intern is morally wrong. However it is difficult to define this case with legal aspect, because it is not clear in the post that what is the criteria to decided unpaid intern is legally right or wrong. Because it is difficult to decide which degree is highly educated or not. So I am going to give my opinion about moral aspect.
Student above said "In a well-ordered society there is the value of freedom. Students or starters can always choose whether to continue an internship or not." Therefore it is just matter of choice. But I do want to ask that whether I have choice or not. In this competitive society now it is almost mandatory to do intern to get into company. There is not many option that student can choose for one's future. In this case, though we value freedom in this society, I cannot think that the student him/herself has freedom. And companies are abusing this situation and legality to maximize their profit. So as the wirter said, I conclude that the companies are exploiting the labour of student, therefore it is morally wrong.
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