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The problem is that a lot of industries that utilize unpaid interns are highly competitive (e.g. fashion, movies.) They can say, if you don't do an internship, you will never get a job; then the unpaid internship is really just a job with no educational value at all. This results in a system where the most skilled and most passionate people are effectively slave labor because if they ask for better conditions, then someone with slightly less skill will do the work for free, and the truth is that these "internships" don't really require any skill.
An ideal system would be one where unpaid internships were actually educational and competitive, and these unskilled jobs were actually available for people who really don't have many skills. If regulation and lawsuits are necessary to get there, then that is what should happen.
I agree with your conclusion... but it drives me crazy when people (e.g. Hillary) campaign for a minimum wage increase and to ban unpaid internships in the private sector while utilizing unpaid interns.
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[–] [deleted] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
[–] wdmc2008 ago
The problem is that a lot of industries that utilize unpaid interns are highly competitive (e.g. fashion, movies.) They can say, if you don't do an internship, you will never get a job; then the unpaid internship is really just a job with no educational value at all. This results in a system where the most skilled and most passionate people are effectively slave labor because if they ask for better conditions, then someone with slightly less skill will do the work for free, and the truth is that these "internships" don't really require any skill.
An ideal system would be one where unpaid internships were actually educational and competitive, and these unskilled jobs were actually available for people who really don't have many skills. If regulation and lawsuits are necessary to get there, then that is what should happen.
[–] FreeSpeachRocks ago
I agree with your conclusion... but it drives me crazy when people (e.g. Hillary) campaign for a minimum wage increase and to ban unpaid internships in the private sector while utilizing unpaid interns.