METKA has become aware that students in technical fields are increasingly being offered unpaid internships. The situation has not yet escalated into a major problem and mainly concerns individual cases. However, this is a step in the wrong direction and immediate action must be taken.
Achieved Benefits Should Not Be Relinquished
The economic downturn must not lead to the abandonment of benefits that have already been achieved, as regaining them is significantly more difficult. In such situations employers may cut salary costs, which increases the risk that they will be unwilling to return to offering paid internships.
It is also worrying that the negotiated wage level is not being adhered to. For example, students in technical fields have generally received wages for their internships in accordance with the wage scale based on credits established by the Union of Professional Engineers. Companies have begun to offer lower-paid internships. Internships in technical fields often take place during the summer holiday period in place of a summer job. Students must receive pay in line with the wage table; enough to cover their basic living expenses.
It is essential for students to be aware of the general wage level in their field and to be familiar with the wage tables of their trade unions. It is important for universities to strengthen the skills that enable students to demand wages commensurate with their expertise as part of their studies. These skills are valuable not only during internships but also in future working life, and they increase transparency when discussing salary issues in the future.
Unpaid Internships Increase Social Inequality
METKA agrees with SAMOK’s position that unpaid internships should be a thing of the past. Internships in the social and health care sector are still mainly unpaid. As their studies progress, students can find employment in their field for the summer, for example, and have their work credited as part of their studies, thus receiving paid training in principle.
Unpaid internships in the social and health care sectors, which are female-dominated fields, are a major structural problem that leads to new challenges. When students do not receive pay for their work, they have to earn additional income through paid work. In practice, however, this is difficult, especially if students are doing their internships in three-shift work. This, in turn, leads to an increase in student loans. Students graduate with a larger loan burden, a worse financial situation, and possibly exhaustion.
At the same time, those who have completed their internships with pay have a better financial situation and a smaller student loan burden upon graduation. They also do not need to supplement their income as much with paid work, as their studies have been advanced in practice through paid work.
All internships should be adequately compensated for, regardless of the field of study or degree.
The Responsibility of Higher Education Institutions
Employers will naturally seek to maximize profits. Therefore, unpaid internships will likely continue to be offered to students, both now and in the future. However, higher education institutions must act as gatekeepers: they should not distribute recruitment advertisements for unpaid internships, nor should they encourage students to independently apply for them. When students are not forced to work excessive hours to cover their living expenses, they are more likely to graduate on time. The correlation between student employment during studies and delays in graduation has been documented in research.
When the labor market is weak, some students may be willing to accept unpaid internships because otherwise their graduation may be delayed. However, such a decision must always be made on the student’s own accord. This situation stands in direct contrast with the goals of higher education institutions, which aim to support students in graduating on time, not to build structures that delay their progress.
Sources:
Salary recommendations for students and graduates
Justus Kalliokoski
Chairperson of the Board
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulun Opiskelijakunta METKA
Mikael Helenius
Chairperson of the Board
Helsingin tekniikan alan opiskelijat – HTO ry
Iiris Hytönen
Chairperson of the Board
Bio- ja kemiantekniikan sekä energia- ja ympäristötekniikan opiskelijayhdistys – Me Bien ry
Tony Sivén
Chairperson of the Board
Myllypuron rakennusalan opiskelijat MYRO ry
Ida Salminen
Chairperson of the Board
Metropolian kulttuurialan opiskelijayhdistys Demoni ry
Mohammed Amaan
Chairperson of the Board
Erasmus Student Network Metropolia
Eetu Forssell
Chairperson of the Board
Gooni ry
Mia Vaim
Vice Chairperson of the Board
Gooni ry
Kim Löfgren
Chairperson of the Board
Karamalmin aineopiskelijat KaMA ry
Kia Laitinen
Chairperson of the Board
Rakennusarkkitehtikilta RAK ry
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