Very few things make me angry. For those that read this blog regularly you’ll know there are many things that cause me to jump on my high horse and climb on a soapbox however if you know me personally then I hope you’ll agree that there are very few things that make me genuinely gut wrenchingly angry.
A company called Etsio and their business model though are one of the very few exceptions to this rule. For those of you who have missed out on hearing about this spectacularly unscrupulous company I suggest you take at a look at these links:
http://graduatefog.co.uk/2011/1779/etsio-pay-to-work-for-free/
http://www.recruiter.co.uk/interns-willing-to-pay-for-work-experience/1011919.article
http://www.recruiter.co.uk/internship-company-etsio-targets-recruitment-industry/1012090.article
For those of you who haven’t got time to read about them in depth, a quick summary. Etsio acts as an agent for companies who want to charge unemployed graduates for internships. Yes you read that correctly Etsio’s clients are happy to charge desperate young people up to £200 a day for the privilege of working for them. Etsio justifies this by claiming it is “training” and not employment but the copy on their website and actual “jobs” listed paint a very different picture
It would seem that that legality of this enterprise is down to the legal semantics of the words “training” and “employee” however I think most people would agree that the morality of such an operation is slightly more clear cut
I’m writing this blog post because I’m worried that this could be the thin end of the wedge and feel very strongly that our industry needs to make a stand against such practices. Bill Boorman has set up a petition here and I hope that if you feel as strongly as I do about this you’ll sign it and encourage others in your network to do the same.
December 15th, 2011 at 11:24 am
If we had an Online Recruitment Association, Etsio would be getting drummed out of it right now.
December 15th, 2011 at 11:36 am
It is elitist, exploitative and entirely wrong. What angers me most is, in his defence, @sadgrove says “It’s because the interns have zero experience, no usefulness” and “why should a company train you for free?” – as if the concept of someone joining a firm and being trained on the job for nothing is somehow alien rather than the historical norm.
He also talks about people paying university fees blah blah blah. Yes, but even though I disagree with kids being charged £40k for an education and starting working life with a debt round their neck, at least that debt is paid back over a length of time, not up front. It’s also related to your earnings.
In summary, this whole scheme is a disgrace and I really hope that it gets outlawed sooner rather than later.
December 15th, 2011 at 11:38 am
I wonder if I could start a new business whereby people pay me to rob them – because I would be teaching them a lesson – free training
December 15th, 2011 at 11:48 am
The essence of this for me isn’t about the interns being exploited, I’m pretty sure they are going into it with their eyes open. Even interns that get paid £300-£500 expenses per month get paid so little they are basically funding themselves and therefore paying for the experience.
The issue is that this system enables the wealthy to get an un-meritocratic advantage over those that can not pay, pretty much the same as the paid interns – so youreally have to be against the paid intern scheme too if you object to this. It’s just a question of the total amount paid for the unfair advantage.
December 15th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
I’ve seen these over the years there’s also
Global Experiences (UK & US) and Dream Careers (US) are the ones I’ve seen.
It’s crazy and feels like they are just exploiting people – but sad some people feel this is one of their only options. The UK Gov have spoken lots about this but still nothing has been done – I do hope this changes
December 16th, 2011 at 7:10 am
Agreed, It is very unfair & difficult (especially when Government itself still continues to offer unpaid internships).
However, access to the top careers has always favoured those grads / school leavers with the right connections. Forcing a bunch of PR / Media / Creative firms (IMO the worst offenders) to pay minimum wage would be a positive step, but is not going to change the fact the underlying issue of access one iota.
December 16th, 2011 at 9:49 am
@Ben and @Paul you both make very logical points. I think the whole intern issue is enormous and I’m not sure it is something that will ever get solved, particularly while the government uses free interns themselves. However the point of the this post is one of principle. The situation is bad enough already without companies like Etsio being allowed to make it worse and shift things to a new low by encouraging paid for internships. The line has to be draw somewhere and I feel very strongly that we should be speaking out against this as an industry
December 16th, 2011 at 10:33 am
Employers who see the free labour as a commercial opportunity need to think beyond the short term. If, in return for free labour, they are not offering something quite valuable to the graduate then their brand will suffer but In the wider context, this type of practice, just confirms a lack of respect for our future generations – not someone we can ever be proud of.
December 16th, 2011 at 12:07 pm
Sorry just read my last note……should be: not something we can ever be proud of.