[protomyth]

Unpaid internships are a way for companies / organizations to know that the intern comes from an affluent background because poor people cannot afford to do those types of internships.

Good luck getting rid of something that keeps it all in the club.

[adrianratnapala]

Yep.

Personally. I'm a free-market type and so I struggle with any moral objection to these internships. But I find it amusing that internships are so popular within institutions (govt, media, big tech) full of people with politics that should find fault with them.

By contrast: when I was the work experience boy at an electrical goods maker, I would have accepted no pay (I needed it for Uni). But they made sure to pay me out of a sense of professionalism.

[protomyth]

> Personally. I'm a free-market type and so I struggle with any moral objection to these internships. But I find it amusing that internships are so popular within institutions (govt, media, big tech) full of people with politics that should find fault with them.

Same story here. I am truly amazed at the people who talk to me about opportunity and diversity and still have unpaid internships. It is an amazingly effective filter for a certain class of individual.

> By contrast: when I was the work experience boy at an electrical goods maker, I would have accepted no pay (I needed it for Uni). But they made sure to pay me out of a sense of professionalism.

The vocational fields got it right with paid apprenticeships. Shows the value of your work increasing as your skill and knowledge does.