What if the true market value of the work they perform during their internship is zero or negative?
When you consider the cost to the company of providing supervision and training, for some jobs the value of the employee in the first month or two, while they try to get up to speed, is often zero. I know that when I deal with new young hires, they are generally of negative worth for the first few months. That gets fixed once they finally figure out which end is up, and they start being productive.
The internship process is a way to discover which potential new hires is likely to be productive, in a way that avoids the potentially costly and emotional dismissal process for those that don't work out.
Then businesses will not hire them. Business isn't charity... they exist to make profit. If a prospective employee doesn't help that, then the business doesn't hire them.
When you consider the cost to the company of providing supervision and training, for some jobs the value of the employee in the first month or two, while they try to get up to speed, is often zero. I know that when I deal with new young hires, they are generally of negative worth for the first few months. That gets fixed once they finally figure out which end is up, and they start being productive.
This sounds like the argument between the way the Navy promotes personnel and how the AF/Army promotes personnel. The Navy will immediately authorize the member to wear their new rank, give them the responsibilities, but not pay them until the date their fiscal system can afford it.
Whereas the AF/Army will not allow the person to 'sew-on' their rank... or officially give them the responsibilities of it... until their fiscal systems can pay them.
I favor the system that only grants you the rank when you see the pay. And it sounds like you'd favor the opposite.
The internship process is a way to discover which potential new hires is likely to be productive, in a way that avoids the potentially costly and emotional dismissal process for those that don't work out.
True enough, nowadays... unfortunately that was supposed to be the interview process. That, and from my experience, it's usually the first couple of months working for a new company where they have the option to terminate your employment should you not work out. Regardless, they do pay you for the work.