Should work experience pay?
Business
Would you work for free? Unpaid work experience is everywhere in business — with graduates told the recession means they’ll have to work for free or not at all. But does it take advantage of young people? And does it mean companies miss out on talent by attracting only those who can afford to work without pay?
Work experience often means working for love, not money. Photo: MatHampson
After a heated debate on the Howies blog recently, it’s interesting to see the way Feel Good Drinks tackle the work experience issue.
With digital agency Hyper Happen, we helped this happy drinks firm spread some ‘feelgoodness’ on a new website. So we were pleased to see their feel-good attitude to work experience featured in The Times a while back.
As marketing director Steve Cooper explains, they offer people on work experience the same benefits as permanent staff — gym membership, five extra days’ holiday to volunteer for causes that they feel strongly about — and a salary rate set just below that of an average graduate.
Is it good for business? Ross certainly seems to be enjoying himself. And like Feel Good, we think that if you put more in, you get more out — finding valuable people for your business. We’re not really big enough to need an intern (and with a virtual office, we wouldn’t have anywhere for them to sit). But as part of our sustainability policy, we make a commitment to pay people promptly for their work. Now we can’t say fairer than that, can we?
P.S. You can see more of our work with Hyper over here.