A recent Dilbert cartoon caught my eye. When asked if an unfamiliar co-worker was a new intern the person responded by saying that he’s “an intern to another intern….(and has to) pay a resort fee just to use the restroom.” As they say, there is truth in every jest!
With the economy in such trouble and jobs so hard to find it seem very common for many college graduates to take unpaid volunteer internships after graduation with for profit and often very successful companies. These internships aren't just for the summer or on a part-time basis but are often full time possitions lasting for a year or more. This has been true for many of the college students that I teach here at Santa Clara University and it seems to be true everywhere as far as I can tell.
Here in Silicon Valley, companies that make as much as a billion dollars a week in profit take on unpaid volunteer interns. While it seems reasonable to try and obtain much needed work experience, training, and connections that an internship can provide I wonder about potential abuse given this trend. After all, why should a company pay employees salaries as well as provide health and other benefits when you can just get people to volunteer their time, talents, and services for free? Why pay someone when they'll work for free?
A company and their employees would really need to be on their ethical toes to avoid exploiting these young and enthusiastic volunteers. I wonder if we need an ethical code of conduct for those companies and organizations who take on unpaid interns. Offering one’s time and energy in a volunteer internship seems reasonable and fair if the intern secures excellent training and experience but if they are exploited, deceived, or abused as free labor then there is a very big ethical problem with this trend.
So, what do you think? How can we ensure that interns are handled in an ethical manner?