Here’s an opportunity to pass up

Many companies and responsible executives talk about the importance of helping the next generation through mentoring, reading programs and other well-intentioned efforts. The whole concept of corporate social responsibility and sustainability seems geared to better equipping young people to inherit our social system, our work and our Earth.

That’s why I’m so confused and upset about an insidious practice which seems to be proliferating – unpaid internships for college seniors and graduates. My recent exposure to college students as a visiting professor has opened my eyes to this unseemly corporate behavior and somebody needs to call it for what it is, wrong and shameful.

The young woman was ready to graduate and faced a choice between two “jobs.” One offer would allow her to stay in her college town for a year or so, but it was outside her chosen field. The other would require her to move to New York City. My eyes got wide because I didn’t think that was much of a choice. A chance to work in the Big Apple, doing what you love to do, seemed like a tremendous opportunity to me. But the more I listened the wider my eyes got for a completely different reason.

The New York City “job,” was really an unpaid internship. A company was asking the young woman to work for free in the most expensive city in the country. In order to survive she would have to take a night job. She would end up working 75 to 80 hours a week just for the “opportunity” to gain valuable experience in her field.

Why would a company do this to a young person? I am afraid the ugly answer to that question is, because they can. Many seniors and graduates are so desperate for work experience on their resume they will do anything to get it. And, too many companies are so greedy and bottom-line oriented they will take advantage of young people.

There were interns in my workplaces for more than 30 years. I am well aware that supervising inexperienced people can cost some resources and effort, but in practically every internship situation I’ve been involved in, the trade for valuable work was a fair one. We always paid interns the equivalent of a beginning salary and I always found that just. Paying a just and fair wage is essential for any ethical, values-oriented company.

I do not find it proper to force students to upend their lives, go further into their savings, or beg their parents to support them while they “work” for your company. That’s nothing less than an abuse of power. But there are even more serious implications.

This practice is discriminatory against anybody without wealth. Many wealthy parents would not hesitate to support their children in any work experience which might help them get a better job. But what are students without wealthy parents supposed to do? They have to let great opportunities pass because they have to find paid work. If they are denied intern experience in attractive fields they are at a distinct competitive disadvantage when it’s time to get a full-time job. Some companies dangle the possibility of a full-time job at the end of the internship, but that still doesn’t make it right.

Any company that expects a young student to do real work just for the “opportunity,” and not for remuneration, deserves to be embarrassed and castigated.

Companies need to reflect on the consistency of all their practices. It makes no sense to profess a commitment to helping young people or to increasing diversity when a company forces middle and lower class students to decline their internship offers because they are unwilling to pay a just and fair wage.

The power of companies to shape young people’s lives is awesome. It should be used responsibly.

Tip for your search: No matter your organizational rank take a hard look at all your practices to make sure they are consistent. Satisfy yourself that you are not sending mixed messages like the one so many companies are sending to young people.

Resource for your search: “The Moral Advantage: How to Succeed in Business by Doing the Right Thing” by William Damon (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2004)