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.
