Enternships Roundup: What's New In The World Of Internships And Youth Unemployment Posted on Thursday 12 January 2012 at 10:58AM by trrpaipai

Lots of media coverage in the past few months and plenty more to come we suspect. Considering the latest figures in unemployment and the ongoing economic instability, the terms graduate jobs and internships will pretty much be on our lips on an ongoing basis. Elliot Whitehead, who has been our entern for the last three weeks or so, was in charge of monitoring the news and keep us updated with the latest developments. Here's what he gathered.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, youth unemployment in the UK rose to a record high of over 1 million in the third quarter of 2011. This is a worrying statistic for the so called 'lost generation' and there has been some interesting articles and debate in recent press regarding unemployment, internships, students and graduates.

The eternal debate

 The paid vs unpaid debate continues, and the issue looks set to become more prominent with campaigns such as the NUS's 'Unpaid internships: We can't work for free' which calls for an end to unpaid internships, gathering steam.

Furthermore, both the X Factor and fashion houses were in the press for facing claims of using unpaid interns. HRMC sent cautionary letters to 102 fashion houses that exhibited during London Fashion Week in September, but did not name them publicly. Personally, I feel that the issue is more complex than 'pay all interns!' (although generally I feel that at least expenses should be paid) as for some start ups and smaller companies this is not possible. When this is the case these businesses must make sure that their interns gain some valuable experience in return for their work, although really this should  be the case in all internships whether paid or not.

However I do worry that some so called 'interns' are often seen as free disposable labour by employers, and many graduates often ask when will this cycle end and how many internships will they need to do before they get a proper job?  For example, I have a friend who got their dream job through an internship, but then I also know someone else who worked for 6 months unpaid with no expenses and was not offered a job at the end so felt rather exploited as her work was almost the same as some of her paid co-workers.

Signs of change

There needs to be a positive change towards this and the government must encourage it. If their work is valued, this should be shown through pay and/or a structured learning experience for the intern. Some good news related to this is Nick Clegg's announcement of the 'Youth Contract', a £1 billion scheme aimed at helping young unemployed people find work or education opportunities, which seems encouraging and will come into action in April 2012. The Youth Contract will provide at least 410,000 new jobs for 18 to 24 year olds over a three-year period, and there will be 160,000 job subsidies available worth up to £2,275 each for businesses who take on an 18-24 year-old from the Work Programme.

Meanwhile, David Cameron announced a new £250 million scheme for businesses to be given the power to design, develop and purchase the vocational training programmes they need. Furthermore, one article states that one in three London SMEs is to hire in the first quarter of 2012 and another that Britain's youngest SMEs could add £360 million to the UK economy.

International progress 

There has also been some big news regarding internships internationally. Firstly The White House announced its Summer Jobs initiative, with the government pledging to provide almost 180,000 paid jobs, internships and other “employment opportunities” through training and mentoring programs by this summer.

In India, SNDT University is planning on introducing a compulsory internship programme for its postgraduate students to make them more employable in the future. I think programmes like this are a great step in the right direction and feel that universities should work more with businesses in these ways to make their graduates more employable. The government should help this wherever possible to make sure that the young people of today do not become the 'lost generation' after all.

A positive future?

In conclusion , I feel that whilst there is still room for progress to be made (for example I would like to see perhaps a more concrete legislation or financial backing from the government regarding paying interns) it seems that with the Youth Contract and the other campaigns announced positive action is being taken.

Furthermore, with public pressure on companies exploiting unpaid interns and reports showing the SME and start up sector having the potential to do well, 2012 could be a good year for interns and graduate employment as long as these initiatives are fulfilled. It is also important to remember one's own entrepreneurial spirit and if you can't take a job then make a job! So finally here are some encouraging examples of young people in entrepreneurship tackling unemployment themselves.