Damien McCarthy discusses the hidden cost of workplace internships and how organisations can avoid the common pitfalls.
Globally, internships are a popular method by which early-career starters or inexperienced workers can get their foot in the door of a company or the industry they would eventually like to be fully employed in. It is an opportunity to upskill for your future and develop a network of people whom you one day hope to call your peers.
When correctly implemented, internships can give people the chance to work their way up, building their skills and benefitting greatly from the guidance and mentorship of others. However, because internships often don’t give employees the same level of workers’ rights as those who have full or permanent contracts, there is room for exploitation, which in turn can damage a company’s reputation.
For Damien McCarthy, the managing director and founder of payroll and HR company HR Buddy, there are a plethora of wrong reasons that might inspire organisations to run internships, such as using interns to perform basic, mediocre tasks that offer little value to the individual, but are a handy administrative duty to get out of the way from the company’s point of view.
“If you are hiring an intern to just help with workload and they remain in the shadows, you develop a poor reputation and it can very easily end up being a negative experience for all parties,” McCarthy told SiliconRepublic.com. “My advice would be that if you are running internships, run them for the right reasons and give your interns meaningful work, projects and the opportunity to build meaningful relationships.”
Expensive decisions
Paid or unpaid, internships can be costly for companies, as time and resources have to be set aside to ensure employees have access to adequate training and support during their time in the organisation. Which, according to McCarthy, is often why businesses decide not to offer paid internships or placements at all, as they can’t justify the cost.
In some cases, people are willing to accept reduced pay or even no pay, because the benefits outweigh the personal cost, as they may be promised a role with the company upon completion of the internship. Alternatively, they may be willing to work for less because it gives them experience and access to the industry and other companies that may be hiring.
But for McCarthy this creates a problematic scenario that he referred to as a “two-tier system”, where only people in more financially secure situations can benefit.
“To work an unpaid internship, you need means to do so and it is a cost to people to go to work and run a career, therefore the reality is that unpaid internships lead to a two-tier system, one where only those with the means can get ahead and avail of the unpaid opportunity and then another tier of those who do not have the means and are therefore left behind,” he said.
“This is of course a deeper more socially responsible approach to the idea of internships, but to what overall or whole benefit is running internships if we block out a huge proportion of talent based on their wealth, family wealth and means. I believe it would be widely beneficial if there was legislation in place to protect against a two-tier system, legislation whereby there would be set rates in employment law for internships.”
If you do it, do it right
Whether it is their skill, excitement, energy or fresh ideas, interns often have much to offer the working environment and many companies find that they gain a talented employee who wants to be there. When it comes to internships, organisational and individual values are frequently interlinked, as employers want to retain skilled staff and interns want to progress professionally.
With that in mind, it just makes sense that organisations would ensure that their internships are mutually beneficial and avoid many of the exploitative aspects, such as reduced or no pay for labour, limited or no benefits and too much ‘grunt work’. By running programmes that are aligned with positive company culture, organisations get the best out of their interns, while also building their reputation as a fair and supportive employer.
“Internships are seen as a critical help in many organisations, particularly at a time when the labour market is so stretched and many organisations are fighting to recruit and retain talent,” said McCarthy. “As we have a very well and high-performing education system in Ireland, there are huge opportunities for companies to ensure better rates of attracting and retaining talent into the future with well-designed and genuine intern mentorship programmes.”
It is also worth noting internship programmes are not just for younger people or early-career starters, in fact, those already well-positioned in established careers who are looking for a change of industry, or people returning to the workforce, can also benefit. Nowadays, people are living for longer and remaining in the workplace long after retirement age, meaning internships can be an ideal way to reskill for a new stage of life.
“In 2015, Barclays launched a new apprenticeships scheme, open to those who have taken a career break or who are new to banking, which has no upper age limit,” said McCarthy. “By September of that year, a third of those enrolled in the Bolder Apprenticeships scheme were over 50. By hiring new employees in this age group, the banking giant hoped to ensure diversity in its workforce and to tap into their experience and knowledge.”
Ultimately, for anyone considering undertaking an internship, it is important that you take stock of where you are in life and gauge whether it will cost you more if you take the role, versus if you don’t. While many people regard unpaid and even paid internships as prone to the abuse of workers’ rights, that is not to say that every opportunity will be negative.
McCarthy acknowledges that, while everyone will have different priorities, people should enter into an agreement with a degree of knowledge around the expectations of their role, the skills they hope to learn, how they will develop professionally, the system for feedback, how they will be compensated, an outline of their working hours and the likelihood of being offered a more permanent position.
“If the above questions can be answered to your satisfaction then it may be that you found the right fit.”
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