• Internocracy demands action not empty promises
• Questions the practical impact of voluntary guidelines on such a critical issue
London, 18 July 2011: Internocracy, the UK’s biggest intern organisation, today welcomes both the launch of a common code of best practice for quality internships and the formation of Professions for Good, but laments the lack of practical action for interns.
CEO and co-founder of Internocracy, Becky Heath, said:
“Since the Milburn report cited internships as a key factor in social mobility, we have seen the formation of various panels and groups, yet we have more unpaid interns today than we have ever had – and this trend will continue to grow as our young people become ever more desperate and ignored by politicians.
Hundreds of thousands of interns are relying on David Willetts to tackle the exploitation of labour that they face every day. A voluntary code of practice just won’t cut it – although it’s a great PR exercise for the government.
The formation of Professions for Good is, again, another step in the right direction. However unpaid internships are much more prevalent in sectors not represented in this group, such as politics, media and charity. These popular career choices have the highest incidences of intern exploitation – when will Willetts tackle the real issues affecting graduate jobseekers?”
• Research from YouGov, commissioned by Internocracy, found that only 12% of managers and 10% of young people knew internships should be paid.
• Based on CIPD Labour Force survey, the number of employers considering taking on an intern rose to 27%, up from 15% in 2010.
http://www.cipd.co.uk/pressoffice/_articles/resourcingandtalentplanning150611.htm
• Internocracy’s Internship Quality Mark, Internships in a Box and sector guides are aimed raising standards and reducing the uncertainty that young people and employers experience around the issue of internships.
• For more go to www.internocracy.org
