The Inbetweeners: The New Role of Internships in the Graduate Labour Market
Key findings
1/2
of employers say candidates without this work experience ‘have little or no chance of receiving a job offer’
Research finds number of internships has doubled since 2010 while the number of graduates in high skilled jobs fall into long-term decline.
New research from IPPR, the progressive policy think tank, shows internships are on the rise in the UK’s most competitive sectors and are now a ‘must have’ for many top jobs for young people.
The number of internships offered by top graduate recruiters has risen by as much as 50 per cent since 2010. Nearly half of these employers say that candidates without this work experience ‘have little or no chance of receiving a job offer’.
However, the proportion of graduates in high-skilled work is in long-term decline: while 61 per cent of graduates aged 21 to 30 were employed in high-skill occupations in 2008, today only 56 per cent are. An oversupply of graduates effectively means that recruiters can more easily attract graduates to work for free or in low-paid, insecure work. In interviews with young people IPPR’s research found evidence of exploitation, poor working conditions and a lack of meaningful work opportunities.
Some sectors, such as publishing, media and the arts, are proving particularly difficult to access for those without a parent in a managerial or professional occupation. These sectors also have particularly high concentrations of internships. For example, film and television accounts for eight per cent of the jobs market as a whole but 16 per cent of the internships on offer.
While there is a lack of data on unpaid internships given they are often informal and often illegal it has been estimated that 1 in 5 is unpaid, though the proportion varies widely by sector. To prevent internships both paid and unpaid from being a barrier to social mobility, IPPR argues that employers need to offer placements to young people of all backgrounds, not just a privileged few:
- Unpaid internships lasting longer than four weeks should be banned in private companies
- A ‘National Opportunity Programme’ should be introduced, offering residential internships for disadvantaged young people from areas which suffer from a lack of social mobility
- Every student should be able to access a brokered work placement at University
- A new association should be established to give a stronger political voice to interns.
Alongside the report IPPR is launching a new guide to fair internships for employers.
“There has been an unstoppable rise in internships since the last recession which shows no sign of slowing down. This is creating a structural bottleneck in the graduate labour market, at a time when fewer graduates are in high-skilled work than a decade ago. This means that young people are now more reliant than ever on finding a good internship to get a foot on the graduate jobs ladder. Although Theresa May agrees that getting on in today’s Britain is still ‘too often determined by wealth or circumstance’, internships are too often restricted to a privileged few. For internships to help rather than hinder social mobility, universities, employers and government should act together to increase the overall availability of internships and minimise any barriers to take up for those who are disadvantaged.”
“This report is welcome. Internships are the new first rung on the professional ladder. They provide access to the best careers, but are too often unpaid and not advertised, making them inaccessible to young people who are locked out of these opportunities because they cannot afford to work for free. Restricted access to internships is bad for interns, business, the economy and acts as a major barrier to social mobility. The practice of unpaid and inaccessible internships should end.”
The research was funded by Trust for London.
Download report
The Inbetweeners: The New Role of Internships in the Graduate Labour Market
Full report 1.1 MBYou may also be interested in
Publication
Moving On Up: Young black men in London's Financial sector: aspirations and experiences
Publication
London Stalling: Half a Century of living standards in London
Data
Pay inequality by borough
Data
Change in low pay by borough
News
London has a big disability employment gap
News
Evaluation of Step Up programme to help low-paid workers launched at City Hall
Trust Initiative
Better Work Network
Trust Initiative
Step up
From our Twitter
@trustforlondon
Almost two thirds of jobs in the hospitality sector are low paid. With most Londoners in poverty from a working family, we need to address the high costs and low pay which are driving Londoners into poverty. pic.twitter.com/JJS22vQFVL
13 Dec 2018Want to look up the poverty rate in Islington? The GCSE attainment gap in Bromley? Infant Mortality rates in Sutton? You can find all of this and more on London’s Poverty Profile. https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/data/
13 Dec 2018Less than half of disabled Londoners are employed. The @SMFthinktank are calling for joined up action through a disability employment taskforce to increase the employment rate of London’s disabled population. https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/publications/supporting-disabled-people-into-work/ …
12 Dec 2018Delighted to say Standard Life Foundation has agreed its strategy & funding guidelines. We aim to contribute towards strategic change which improves financial well-being in the UK We’re now open for applications. 1st deadline: 4th Feb More details at: http://www.standardlifefoundation.org.uk/foundation/library/SL-Foundation-Funding-Guidelines.pdf …
11 Dec 2018We all want people to be able to earn a living from working. But most Londoners who are in poverty come from a working household. Hard work should pay. We need more employers to offer the real living wage. Find out more here: #livingwage https://www.trustforlondon.org.uk/issues/work/london-living-wage/ …
12 Dec 2018