Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is must-read article by the Brookings Institution. Check it out!

via Unpaid internships: Support beams for the glass floor | Brookings Institution.

Reading the Brookings article made me re-read one of my most popular blogs, entitled Bank of America Merrill Lynch intern Moritz Erhardt found dead after working long hours | Mail Online. My views on interns have not changed.

Basically, children of the wealthy and socially connected take the cream of the internships, both because of whom they are and secondly because their parents can avoid for them to work for free.

Personally, I struggle with the US Appeals Court that “unpaid interns must derive more benefit than the employer”. Surely this is totally subjective and unenforceable?

There’s a need to test unpaid internships in the highest courts, both in North America and Europe.

Apart from the issue of pay, there’s the reality that prestigious internships are beyond the grasp of youngsters from ordinary backgrounds, irrespective of their education or personal qualities.

Thoughts?