Re:Calling Bullshit on Unpaid Interships
by Symmetry on Thursday June 30, 2011 @11:34AM
(#2714441)
That only works in an absolutely frictionless labor market. Meanwhile, in the real world, there are many sources of friction.
Yes there is friction, but how does that effect whether internships are a good idea? By far the biggest source of friction in technology hiring is the lemon problem[1], and internships actually help get around that by providing references. You could credibly argue that unpaid internships are a good idea only in highly frictional labor markets.
As to location, well, if there aren't any jobs in your industry locally there won't be any internships either, so that's a distinction without a difference in this discussion.
Yes there is friction, but how does that effect whether internships are a good idea? By far the biggest source of friction in technology hiring is the lemon problem[1], and internships actually help get around that by providing references. You could credibly argue that unpaid internships are a good idea only in highly frictional labor markets.
As to location, well, if there aren't any jobs in your industry locally there won't be any internships either, so that's a distinction without a difference in this discussion.
[1]http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2005/01/27.html