New hopeful to become the leader of the Labour Party in the UK, Andy Burnham has proposed to end unpaid internships lasting longer than 3 months. His recently published manifesto states that business along with the former secretary of health would work together to, “end the practice of unpaid internships lasting more than three months”. The manifesto also added that, “All placements should be supported by the national minimum wage at least”.
Burnham said, “The trend towards unpaid work and internships across all sectors and industries is placing the most attractive and powerful jobs beyond the reach of young people with the least means and connections.”
Burnham is also looking into other options that will help students once they have graduated including giving them an extended period of time to pay off student loans to enable them to get unpaid work for a short period to gain experience, whilst eventually securing an internship on minimum wage.
Burnham added to this further by saying, “I will also propose that all work experience, placements and internships be advertised by law so that the opportunities they present are available to all, not just to those in the know”.
This is great news for students who want to gain equal opportunities for work placement and who require payment in order to work. Not all students are able to sustain a job without getting paid and this is the main problem in the UK and indeed across the world. Those who would really benefit from an internship to secure a high paying or excellent job are not able to accept the opportunity because they have to make money. This could be due to the fact that their parents cannot afford to support them, or that they have a costly student loan to pay off.
The best jobs should not just be available to those have more money, which is the main concept behind Burnham’s campaign. The leadership ballot results for the Labour Party will be released on the 25th September.
If you are looking at the internship opportunities that are offers, you will find that many of the best ones are unpaid and this can be disheartening. A law ensuring that long term internships are paid for positions is something that should be looked into in every country around the world.
If you are in search of an internship, there is not just the issue of payment, but you also have to compete with so many other students to get accepted into many of the programs. Some programs only offer 20 places or 30 places and some might just offer 1 or 2, which means that you have to brush up on your job application and interview skills as well as get advice on how to create an amazing resume.
This is something that you will get help with when you become a member on the Internship Finder website. Here you will not only get all the detailed information that you require to get accepted for the best internship opportunities, but you will also be able to search the list of currently available internships and apply right away, so don’t hesitate to join today!
Related employment posts:
