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Unpaid internships have recently come under fire for being unfair. Yet, it must be noted that Elle Decoration and Woman Online Magazine also offer questionable unpaid internships. Elle Deco expects interns to have their own transport, laptop and Adobe Creative Suite programs (!!).
Read as our readers respond to our article, Marie Claire's R30 a day internship sparks fury.
Letter one:
This is truly despicable, but alas they are not the only ones exploiting young people. There are a lot of companies who know that work is scarce and without experience you struggle to find a job, so they pay way less than what the individual's work is actually worth and soothe themselves with the idea that are providing them with experience!
Basic
morals and ethics mean nothing to businesses anymore. What happened to
the King report asking a business to look at the triple bottom line
rather than the single idea of "money, money, money"!? - Jacques
Letter two:
Yes, I believe that their offer is totally fine if they are providing good training.
Training normally comes at a cost, but here it appears it is for "free", plus they are paying R30 per day. Instead of focusing on the R30 a day, rather focus on the benefit of receiving training in a working environment with a well respected and professional industry player.
It is an opportunity to learn, and the six months of free 'work' could prove invaluable towards building a good career, making good contacts and gaining experience.
Read the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", which also talks about working for free for a 'period' with the benefit of learning some very valuable business lessons in the process. - Peter
Letter three:
Stop being so dramatic, R30 is for lunch money. People pay thousands to go to schools and universities. It's not a job being advertised, it's a learning opportunity. I am so tired of the new culture of entitlement. What happened to the days when it was normal to study at night and work during the day?
If you have a problem with it, then don't apply for the post. It's that easy.
I can see the angle of the commentaries about only the elite being able to afford to take up the position. Surely it's better to be learning something and getting lunch money than sitting at home without lunch and without any training. We still have freedom of choice. – Chris
Letter four:
This is a complete over-reaction.
Nobody is forced to take the job after all. And Marie Claire is right, it is good experience. Just think of the fees you would have to pay at a technical training company, which would surely amount to far more than R30 a day.
So you are getting excellent training AND pocket money.
What's so bad about that? (Unless you have an enormous chip on your shoulder about ‘entitlement’). – Ian
Letter five:
R30 per day? Or around R3.75 per hour. What a disgrace. - Anton
Letter six:
Lousy remuneration and as you say it neatly precludes those that rely on the income for their living.
I found the same disgraceful income level relating the serving of summonses. The company contracted to serve them often passed the summons to a sub-contractor, who in turn passed the actual serving on to 'an independent contractor'.
This sub-contractor had to use his own car and petrol and I understand that for this, he was paid the princely sum of R15 (yes, fifteen rand!) per summons.
Utterly disgraceful and I don't know if the main company is aware of this situation, but in my opinion it is little better than slave labour.
Likewise, the payment offered by Marie Claire is insulting. I hope that they examine their conscience and put matters right. – Norman
Letter seven:
There are two main requirement that most private employers will want from any new employee - relevant experience and suitable qualifications. Often in that order, that's reality.
Now get used to it if you want to beat the competition to a job. Take the internship, show your enthusiasm and ability, and you will have a great recommendation and the experience to set you up for life.
The employer pays taxes as a consequence for their operations, efforts and innovation and is not really obliged to train outsiders. - Neil
Letter eight:
Personally I felt that there was quite a lot of huffing about this. Internships are amazing. Heck where I work interns pay us for the privilege (but then of course much of it is presented as a practical course).
I would have thanked my lucky stars if I was able to get an unpaid internship after college. I used to work at restaurants after hours during college and for the college itself to pay for my tuition. I lived in the cheapest places to rent in town so low or no internship pay would have actually been a bonus to me either way.
A good internship is worth gold for a career! And a company usually has to go to some effort and expense to provide such a service.
What do companies get? Not much work wise, but they do nurture the future of their industries and the pleasure of doing a good thing for somebody else.
I cannot agree with this! Paid internships are a bad thing. Young aspiring professionals need to lower their expectations. People are lucky if they get out of college and start earning what a petrol attendant does right off the bat. This is not Denmark or even the US. This is Africa and there is not so much money in the system and people need to be ready to work and suffer a bit to get somewhere good. – Joe
Letter nine:
An internship is part of a person's training. Other professions (doctors, attorneys, accountants) also do internships for low compensation. With the cost of training nowadays it is a wonderful opportunity for 'free' training. A prestigious internship at e.g. a glossy magazine will look well on any CV and is bound to open doors for the future. I do agree that the playing field should be level and promising candidates from all walks of life be given a chance. – Anonymous
Letter ten:
It is not good enough. It is not wealth one asks for, but just enough to preserve one's dignity. – Julius
What do you think of the Marie Claire controversy? Is R30 a day good enough? Let us know.
