The unpaid internship is a long-standing business practice beloved by executives and despised by interns. But in recent years, the savvy and outspoken ranks of Gen Z aren't as willing to work for free as generations past — companies eager to build a robust pipeline of future employees have shifted their approach.
Eighty-seven percent of paid interns reported earning at least $15 per hour in 2022, according to data from workplace insights platform Glassdoor; the average internship paid $24.63 per hour, an 11% increase from the average pay of $22.17 in 2021.
"While the current labor market has cast a shadow over many companies' summer internship programs, many companies do pay interns, and some pay quite competitively," says Glassdoor's lead economist, Daniel Zhao. "For anyone searching for an internship this summer, it might not be in your best interest to accept the first unpaid, coffee-fetching gig that comes along."
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Glassdoor recently ranked the top 25 internships according to their average salary postings. The platform also added a metric for positive business outlook, which is based on U.S. reviews from full-time and part-time employees, and meant to give insight on how stable an employer seems to insiders.
Tech companies — including Meta, Snap, TikTok, Amazon and Microsoft — made up the majority of Glassdoor's list. Fintech company Stripe came in first place for paying its interns an average salary of $9,064 per month followed by online game company Roblox and software company NVIDIA, which also scored particularly high in its business outlook rating.
Considering the number of layoffs the tech industry saw in 2023, the number of high-paying internships is a welcomed beacon of hope, according to Glassdoor. Outside of tech, the list also highlights finance companies like Citi and Capital One, and consulting firms including Bain & Company and McKinsey.
See what other companies made Glassdoor's list, below:
