All traineeships should be paid or funded
There should be financing for all traineeships – be it at a national level, in the country of residence of students, in the embassies of the EU member states, embassies located in the country of the student’s residence, or in the office of the European Parliament of the country concerned, or at the European Commission’s representative in that country. Erasmus ± National Trainee funding should cover strictly the costs of accommodation and travel if the embassy does not reimburse any of the two costs.
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6 comments on All traineeships should be paid or funded
This is a terrible idea that will almost completely remove the possibility of training in a real job.
Most of the times, companies don't make profit off you when you train there, and if you expect a compensation for your time, you'll just be a net loss for the company, so there will be no reason for them to help you learn.
Dear Adrien,
It may be the case where traineeships do not make a high profit with trainees who are starting their professional career. However, trainees do incur in costs when engaging in internships (accomodation, food, maintenance, transport...).
We're not even speaking of salaries, but just funding to cover the costs. Saying that internships should not be funded means posing a barrier for those who can't afford to cover those costs on their own. It means creating a disadvantage for those who do not count with a well-off family or economic resources
I don’t agree with that at all. Many intern and trainees contribute greatly in their workplace and deserve some compensation.
If traineeships aren’t paid they are only accessible to young people with substantial financial funding. This reproduces social inequality.
In many sectors, there is a shortage of workers. Internships are an investment companies are making for the long term. Of course, most companies only think in terms of profits in the short term, in terms of the next quarterly earnings report.
Totally agree! We should end unpaid internships once and for all. Currently it's a privilege for the rich that can afford to sustain themselves while working full-time for free. The argument that as an intern you don't contribute at all because you are too junior is BS.
Next to banning unpaid internships, there is a big need to making salaries for full-time positions transparent.
Currently, everyone must check external websites like Glassdoor to find out market rates for job positions which can be unreliable information. This lacking transparency only benefits employers and allows them to underpay their employees. Various states (recently New York) already made it mandatory for job postings to include a salary range. The EU should follow this example across all member states to ensure equality across all applicants (genders and nationalities). It would also improve salaries as companies would have to openly compete for applicants since they could easily compare potential earning potential across companies and even countries.
This is a major transparency problem in which the EU is lacking and should be solved.