Condé Nast, a renowned magazine publication that produces magazines such as Allure, BRIDES, GQ, Lucky, Self, Vogue and Teen Vogue has recently announced the ending of its internship program beginning in 2014. Thousands of internship dreams have been crushed, including my own. But why is this happening? And are other companies with great internship programs bound to follow in Condé Nast’s footsteps?
Lawsuits against companies with regard to its unpaid and paid internship programs have been on the rise. Condé Nast’s decision to terminate its program came from accusations that they violated minimum wage and overtime laws. Two summer interns sued the company claiming they had paid them less than minimum wage.
Condé Nast wasn’t the first to face these charges. According to the WSJ, Fox Searchlight violated labor laws when it did not pay its production interns on the set of the movie “Black Swan.” Hearst Corporation also faced lawsuits in 2012.
But now what? There’s going to be panic on both ends. Editors and head honchos must get their own coffee and deal with the lack of assistance on photoshoot sets while aspiring fashion interns must face the fact that it’s now that much harder to reach the job they’ve always dreamt of having.
Internships are essential especially for those aspiring to work in the magazine industry. They boost your resume and provide solid work experience but without the ability to get your foot in the door, it’s more difficult to get the experience that you need to move up the ladder.
Condé Nast headquarters in New York City, NY
This was bound to come up though as the subject of internships has been a subject not often discussed among the Condé Nast executives. Working long hours and being paid under $1 per hour doesn’t seem fair and kudos to the students who were willing to make a stand. But now it seems we’ve been burned into a hole. The question now is where to go from here. We will just have to see how far the company makes it without its interns and how their work strategies need to be altered due to the drastic change.
Until then though, not to worry collegiettes, we are all in this together and we will make it to the top!
Sources: Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today