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Tangentially related, but I remember being in college when Tesla was like starting to take off. Like the Model S had just come out. I went to one of the Tesla internship presentations on campus and listened to some of the people who had the internship the previous year and they talked about how they were pulling like, 60+ hour weeks and that they had like, a shuttle that ran all throughout the night to take them from the workplace to the housing. Some talked about going back home at like 3AM, and then showing up for work again at 8AM. It really sounded kind of like it would be a very stressful experience and I didn't even want to apply after listening to it. I guess they were paid well, but
Sounds like things have only gotten way more chaotic since then
The interns were pulling those hours? Or just the full time hires.
the interns
In the USA interns work for free? In my country interns work for free. (They're not supposed to actually work, but learn how work is done in that company)
During my free internship I was placed in the summer in a warehouse moving boxes without AC. The next day I called the teacher and said that I'm sick and unfortunately I couldn't get to do the slave anymore
In the US, completely unpaid internships are rare. Most are paid, but fairly poorly. There are a few major reasons for this:
You have to meet a lot of requirements for unpaid to be legal, and it all has to be documented.
Internships are a "farm" program- many interns are offered and accept a full time position afterwards. If they were unpaid, they are unlikely to accept.
Minimum wage is an absolute joke everywhere in the country. Why bother fighting it when you can pay as little as $7.25/hour? Even doubling or tripling that makes it appealing to poor college students and the farm program, and won't cost much.
(Your example would be illegal in the US, and possibly even enforced)
Nice to know that's not free labor.
Here instead it's even forbidden by law to pay interns because theoretically should teach them (be a cost to the company) and they shouldn't actually work, just watch and do basic stuff. But what actually happens is they get free slaves, for example they sent a poor student to do the job of a skilled metalworker and die in a work accident https://www.fanpage.it/attualita/chi-era-lorenzo-parelli-il-18enne-morto-nel-suo-ultimo-giorno-di-stage-gratuito-a-udine/
When it was my turn to be the intern, the company lied about what they were doing, they said that they would do something related to my study field instead they were a moving company with a ratio of 2 interns per 1 minimum wage workers (we don't have a minimum wage in my country, I mean paid the minimum agreed by the unions). I just walked out and didn't show up to the "internship" anymore but I should have reported that. I was too naive