Though we’re not living in normal times or circumstances currently, summertime for students studying in colleges and universities usually means internships. Proper internship programs in Pakistan are limited and most interns are required to work free of cost and are promised “exposure and experience” in return. Recently, Pakistani Twitter was lit with a debate on unpaid internships with netizens demanding a ban on them.
The debate started when an old tweet resurfaced in which a Twitter user had called out a prominent influencer for promoting unpaid internships and had mocked them.
The internship advertisement posted by Syed Muzammil Hasan Zaidi stated that he needed an intern/assistant to work on several projects with him. He clarified that the position is unpaid and that the successful candidate will get no leaves for three months. Incentives included getting a chance to work with top government officials and top creators in the digital media industry.
Following that, Twitter users began to slam the influencer for promoting this and called for the culture of unpaid internships to be cancelled.
The debate is not just limited to Pakistan. People across the world are calling for a ban on this practise and are urging workplaces to be more inclusive.
