Ethics of Interns' Exploitation

3121 Words13 Pages
The case of low paid interns’ exploitation The case of low paid interns’ exploitation Aleksandra Kozera Bsc Management 09000805 Aleksandra Kozera Bsc Management 09000805 ABSTRACT This paper discusses the practice of hiring interns by for-profit companies and using them as means to deliver immediate value in substitution by full-time adequately paid workforce. Despite the fact that hiring paid inters is legal, this paper questions the responsibility and ethics of such business behaviour. The discussion is based on the real-life experiences of students who undertook paid internships within the last year. This paper evaluates the practice by introducing a fictional case of a trial between The Illuminate Consulting Group (ICG), a boutique strategy consulting company based in San Carlos, California, and one of its former summer interns. As opposed to a traditional trial, the aim of the judgment was not to decide the legality, but the responsibility of the business practice in question. Reasoning is based on ethical theories pragmatically applied to the real-life business case. Additionally, the case cites the testimonials of “witnesses”, namely eleven students with relevant experience, who expose the reality of paid intern experience and provide support for the final judgment. INTRODUCTION According to Perlin, the author of “Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy”, in the reality of an economic downturn, internships has recently become "the principal point of entry for young people into the white-collar world”. Some all well-paid and structured positions, but others aim at cheap or free labour exploitation. Perlin’s study focuses on the abuses of interns’ labour by large corporations, not-for-profits and government offices. But the empirical observation suggests that the practice of hiring low paid interns has
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