Unpaid internships and the people who support (edit - for support, read offer) them are particularly unpleasant for a number of reasons, the main one being that they are for the most part little more than a test to see if you are from a rich enough background to consider regularly talking to.
Presumably she runs a non-profit, which, for better or worse, are frequently graded on value delivered vs. administrative expenses. Paying an intern is an administrative expense.
You could say that "call[ing] out" Sandberg is unjust to her because, as you say, big banks do it too. However, (a) the injustice, in concrete material terms, is negligible in comparison to the lives of those working without pay, and (b) this logic, it seems to me, would suggest that all prosecution of individuals is fundamentally unjust unless one is able to round up each and every similar violators.
She is absolutely free to pay "market wage." We are free to mock the hell out of her.
This was essentially what Google to engineers when I worked there. They worked for generally just under a year, got reviewed, and then if they didn't measure up to the "level" that they had hired in at, they let them go. They were somewhat up front about it if you pressed them. But I didn't meet anyone there who particularly appreciated it when others would hire them and not do the whole 'check in a year' thing.
This is exactly how it works here in Australia, for graduate and "normal" positions alike.
3 months probation with minimal notice, option to extend to 6 (but no greater due to workplace regs). Works well and means the employer doesn't have to take you on as a "casual" just to avoid the risk that you might be shit.
take on interns before graduation
if graduating within a year
make hire/no-hire decision by the end of the internship
else
make re-intern decision by the end of the internship
Hopefully fresh CS graduates are not taking contracting jobs with Bigco! From where I sit, they are in a seller's market and shouldn't take so little.
Employee protection laws. A lot of countries have them, mine did too before the neo-libs dismantled it.
They're ignored.
"No, I don't think so," I replied, confused by his question.
"So who in their right mind would think it's okay to ask a writer for free words?"
Although the paper had a small budget, he gave me a modest stipend for each article. It wasn't about the money; it was about what the money represented: respect for a person's time and energy.
I took his career advice to heart and never worked for a company that didn't value its employees enough to pay them.
True unpaid interns aren't employees, as they should be purely learning. hawkharris said he was writing articles; that's not just learning.
This really only became news however because Sheryl seems to have got used enough to her bubble that she forgot that the standard practice among many of the rich of filtering out the poor from entrance to organisations is considered to be fairly disgusting by many other people.
1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.
(http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm)
Labor laws in the United States were hard won, and we should not forget this. Along with minimum wage laws, they benefit all of us who must work to maintain our lives. So expecting someone to provide you free labor with no compensation for their efforts is not only immoral, it's illegal. If you work, you deserve to get paid. If you expect someone to work for you, you should be honored to be able to pay them reasonably for their time and effort.
Why is this so difficult to understand?
The people who are screwed the most are the ones that lose their competitive advantage because they can't afford unpaid internships.
I wonder when the government will get around to investigating themselves?
I mean, to me, it's that simple. You can abuse the desperation of people needing work, or you can pay a good wage for the work that they do. I consider it a moral good to employ at a sane wage despite the ability to burn others without fallout; for similar reasons, I don't shop at Wal-Mart but will shop at Costco.
The internship is for Lean In, a non-profit she started, and not for Facebook.
Minimum wage laws apply far less to non-profits, since you can legally volunteer at a non-profit.
(Let me add that this is an objection on principle, not one of resentment; I never heard of such arrangements when I was of an age to be an intern.)
http://peat.org/2013/08/15/take-a-chance-on-an-intern/
The "getting paid" part was key. I could really focus on the work I was trying to do. Better for me, better for my employer -- better for everyone.
It doesn't have to be much. It just has to be something.
Also, this is a non-profit, so "volunteering" is just fine. Granted the posting sounds a lot more like a job than charity work, but hey, if they can find people going for it then more power to them.