Does internship workers deserve to be compensated? What has been public opinion?

Unpaid internships have been a topic of debate as they can contribute to income inequality and the exploitation of young workers. Critics argue that unpaid internships can exclude individuals who cannot afford to work without pay, limiting opportunities for those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Additionally, unpaid internships may not provide fair compensation for the work and skills provided by interns.

Insight:

  • The conversations on the recent Unpaid Internship garnered around 5.7K with 71K social interactions that potentially reached 3.2M users.
  • There have been growing concerns regarding the issue of unpaid internship workers, with many online users actively expressing their views on the matter. A fraction of these users feel that it is inhumane for employers to exploit young workers without providing any allowance or compensation. They emphasize that these internship workers deserve to receive at least an allowance for their daily necessities, if not a full salary.
  • After the revelation that some government offices did not pay allowance for their interns, netizens then pushed the blame on the government. They believe that the government, as the decision-maker, should set a benchmark for other business owners to pay their internship workers. Some netizens also argue that it is unfair for employers to claim that interns gain free knowledge and networking opportunities while using their services as cheap labor.
  • Nevertheless, netizens hoped for the government to review the issue of unpaid interns and devise a solution that could alleviate their burden. It was widely agreed that most interns simply required an allowance to meet their basic needs, rather than a full salary.

Top online conversations on Unpaid Internship