You may be surprised to learn that, according to Prospects, almost half of all young people in the UK have undertaken an unpaid internship. Given the lack of remuneration involved, it’s understandable to wonder why.

The answer is simple. Internships are perceived to provide unique opportunities to their participants: opportunities to gain valuable work experience, build networks, and develop soft skills. This could be what motivates highly driven students to pursue internships – both paid and unpaid – before they even graduate.

Will pre-grad internships become a predominant career path, though? Could this be the future of work? Read on to find out more about this trend and what it means for both students and employers.

What is an internship?
The Muse defines an internship as “a short-term work experience offered by companies and other organizations for people – usually students, but not always – to get some entry-level exposure to a particular industry or field.”

The idea behind student internships is that young people can gain real-world experience of the workplace that will inform and enrich their future careers. Internships include a combination of work and learning opportunities, and they may be either paid or unpaid.

Although laws exist to prevent unpaid work in the UK, internships clearly represent a grey area for many: the Cibyl Graduate Survey of 2020 found that 43% of students who had completed an internship were not paid for it.

What are the business benefits of offering internships?
Businesses can use internships to build relationships with the potential hires of the future. This is an example of what Talent Insight Group calls “talent pipelining.” Basically, companies can prepare candidates for future roles by developing them in the right direction during internships.

The workplace is competitive for companies as well as candidates: employers also have to market themselves to tomorrow’s jobseekers. If a young person has a positive internship experience with a business, it follows that they will be more interested in pursuing their career there.

What are the drawbacks of internships?
An unpaid internship could be economically impossible for students who would otherwise work a regular job over holiday periods. For this reason, New America has accused internships of perpetuating inequality: the wealthiest students who can afford to work for free are most likely to further benefit from lucrative but unpaid internships.

Not all internships are made equal, either. Rather than using internships to connect with future hires, there have been reports of companies using the work of low-paid or unpaid interns to avoid hiring otherwise necessary staff.

For example, research performed by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism found adverts for unpaid internships that suggested the intern would hold an inappropriately high level of responsibility. This shows the potential for internships to be abused.

Is an internship before graduation a good idea?
In a competitive job market, it’s understandable that students want to differentiate themselves from their peers and get a head start through pre-graduation internships. During an internship, students have the potential to build their network and make connections that could serve their career aspirations.

UCAS has reported that two thirds of employers look for graduates with relevant work experience, meaning that a student internship might be the key to securing future job opportunities.

Bearing all of the above in mind, an internship could be a great career opportunity – but only if it’s the right internship. Students who decide to spend their summer holidays at the workplace should be clear about the conditions they’re willing to accept and exactly what they seek to gain from the experience.

Are student internships the future of work?
Last year, the Guardian reported how many internships were cancelled as a result of COVID-19. Post-pandemic, it’s likely that offices will remain totally or partially transformed by the experience.

However, with the right infrastructure, companies may now be able to offer students more flexible, digital internships. This could increase accessibility for students who also have to work during the holidays in order to fund their studies.

One concern for the future of student internships is that the long-term economic impact of the pandemic may render some companies unable (or unwilling) to invest in internships. If internships become scarce, competition for these reduced spots will surely be even more fierce.

Because, as the HR Booth reports, student internships bring many benefits to the businesses that offer them -such as improved retention and talent acquisition – they are very likely to feature in the future of work.