Should Interns Be Paid? Balancing Learning and Fair Compensation

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When a student graduates from college, they typically face two options: the first is to pursue higher education, and the second is to seek employment and secure a job. In today's environment, however, finding a job can be somewhat challenging, as the number of applicants is high, and the competition is even more intense. Generally, if you wish to secure a job immediately after college, the primary avenue is through campus placements, where you might get selected. The secondary option is to apply for an internship at a company; if you are granted the opportunity to intern, you can spend some time learning the ropes there and potentially secure a permanent position within that same company, provided a vacancy exists. Those undertaking an internship are first familiarized with the company's operations—specifically, how work is conducted within that organization—and are assigned an entry-level role commensurate with their qualifications. It is through this initial, modest role that they begin their professional journey and acquire practical skills. Now, let us turn to the main topic at hand: as posed in the prompt, should interns be paid for their work, or should internships be conducted on a voluntary (unpaid) basis? While opinions on this matter vary widely among individuals, I would like to offer my own perspective as well.

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Look, during an internship, you are taught the ropes of the job; in a sense, the company is providing you with an opportunity to acquire skills. This ensures that if you apply for a similar vacancy elsewhere in the future, your resume will feature an internship certificate—demonstrating that you possess at least a foundational understanding of the work—which may potentially earn you preferential treatment. Now, practices regarding this vary across different types of companies. Some companies focus solely on training their interns, refraining from assigning them any additional tasks beyond the learning process; in other words, their primary objective is strictly skill acquisition—and rightly so. If a company is indeed focused exclusively on teaching the work, it is arguably acceptable even if they do not offer financial compensation to the interns, as the interns are, after all, gaining valuable knowledge. Moreover, internships typically last only for a few months; subsequently, if an intern is selected for a permanent position, they begin receiving a regular salary.

The second point is that some companies do offer internships, but they assign their interns tasks that would typically be performed by a permanent employee—work for which a regular staff member would receive a salary. In essence, they merely exploit the interns to get their own work done, without making any significant effort to actually teach them the trade. If a company engages in such practices—assigning interns the company's routine operational tasks—then those interns certainly deserve to be compensated. Fundamentally, this practice is entirely unethical; if an individual is interning at a company, the primary objective should be for the company to impart skills and knowledge to the intern. Once the intern is fully trained and the company determines that there is a need for their services, they should be hired as regular employees and paid a salary commensurate with their work. It is absolutely wrong for companies to operate in this manner—taking on interns but making them perform the duties of a regular employee, while offering either meager compensation or, in some cases, no pay at all. Their standard justification for this is: "We are teaching you the job, and in doing so, we are expending our own resources; therefore, you have no grounds to expect payment, as your sole purpose here is to learn."
In some companies, this practice is fundamentally wrong and requires immediate change; after all, if you are extracting work from someone, you ought to compensate them in return. Nowadays, certain companies exploit people's vulnerabilities, fully aware that—given the current high levels of unemployment—individuals are willing to work even for meager wages. Capitalizing on this desperation, these companies offer internships while assigning tasks identical to those performed by regular employees. This allows them to get the work done without having to pay a salary equivalent to that of a standard employee. However, this practice is unjust and needs to be rectified.

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