An internship does not mean free labour

image : freepik.com

Recently in June, 25-year-old Jervis completed eight internships whilst studying at NTU. The computer science student started his internship as an Advanced Micro Devices product engineering intern, earning S$1,500 a month. Subsequently, his other seven internships earned him a range of S$1,000 to approximately S$6,300 monthly.

On the other end of the spectrum, a Reddit thread by user @soulslicer0 depicted how little interns were paid - ranging from S$800 to S$900 before CPF deductions - in software, mechanical, and electrical positions. Per the original poster’s calculations, an intern’s pay amounts to less than S$5 an hour. The difference in Jervis’s internship pay and benefits versus commenters in the Reddit thread prompt the question: how much should interns earn exactly?

Does the type of industry make a difference in intern earnings?

According to the website SG.Talent, an intern earns a median of about S$1,900 per month. This calculation is based on 842 salaries. Annually, this means an intern makes an average of S$22,800 a year, or S$9.97 an hour. Entry-level positions start at S$18,000 a year, while more experienced workers make up to S$42,000 per year.

In 2016, Alex* earned close to S$9,000 as an undergraduate intern working in the sales and trading division at a foreign investment bank. According to The Business Times, internships in investment banking, or sales and trading at foreign banks such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Citi, and Deutsche Bank can earn their trainees between S$8,000 to S$10,000 monthly.

Human resource consulting firm Adecco also stated that most interns within their company earn between S$600 to S$1,000 for short internships. Full-time interns potentially had a salary of approximately S$7,000.

However, Alex* mentions he “would be in the office at 6.30am and leave at 9pm.” His tasks at work can range from buying coffee multiple times in a day to automating spreadsheets to add value and productivity to the company.

Country manager of HR firm ManpowerGroup, Linda Teo, explains, “They are willing to offer top dollar to attract the creme de la creme of interns with the hope that especially outstanding interns will take up full-time roles with these companies upon graduating.”

On the contrary, interns I’ve previously worked with in the media line earned S$900 if they were fresh graduates with O’levels or A Levels, and S$1,000 if they held a diploma. This is before their CPF cuts. The potential of conversion from intern to full-timer within the company depended solely on the availability of the position.

Internships as part of school curriculum

According to user @eloriale on Reddit, polytechnic students who go through their internship are not required to pay CPF. She also mentioned that the school websites recommend the company to pay a small allowance to the students.

Image: Ngee Ann Polytechnic, 2022

ITE internships or traineeships are applicable for both GCE N’ and O’ level holders. Depending on which area of expertise the traineeship is for, the average starting salary for ITE interns range from S$1,000 to S$1,400 with internships lasting for one to two years.

NTU’s curriculum structure requires most students to undergo a practical attachment as part of their degree programmes. This attachment varies from 8 weeks to 24 weeks. The allowance paid to the students is also determined by the organisation, and NTU’s website only provides a guide to the average amount payable to students.

Image: NTU

In comparison, NUS’s internship guide states that the recommended allowance for an intern is a minimum of S$800 per month, and at least S$1000 a month for technical roles.

How much allowance is too much?

In June 2023, a 25-year-old woman working in a cloud service company took to social media to complain about the pay an intern was demanding.

“The intern joined two months ago and had no prior work experience. I’ve heard that he’s been demanding to earn the same pay scale as us - between S$5k to S$6k - and it’s ridiculous. He has no foundation knowledge in the cloud service provider,” she said.

She also recounted how her intern pay at 17-years-old was S$600, and her first full-time job paid her S$1,800. She had to work up the ladder for six years before landing on her S$6,000 paycheck.

Netizens took offence to her complaints on Facebook.

The Singapore Association of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (Saceous) with support from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and various institutes of higher learning developed a guide on best practices for internship programmes in MICE. The guide is aimed at raising internship standards within the industry, and also provides help in areas such as defining the objectives of an internship, suggestions around working hours, leave benefits, allowance, workplace safety and well-being for interns.

“We want to be a good employer and adhere to the guidelines,” said Ms Lioba Mauch, regional human resource manager at trade fair company Koelnmesse. She also added that the firm will look into areas for improvement, such as increasing the pay of interns in the future.

There is no legal requirement to pay interns a salary or allowance. Employers hiring interns under government schemes such as the SGUnited Traineeship Scheme, however, must provide interns with a minimum monthly allowance. This amounts to S$1,800 for university graduates, and S$1,100 for ITE graduates.

Unpaid internships still remain common, and some fresh graduates choose to opt for said internships citing “experience in an industry they are passionate about.”

Others draw the line and say they’re turned off from unpaid work, especially if the company has tremendous resources and the ability to compensate their interns, however choose not to do so.

In short, fresh graduates should factor in whether an internship - paid or unpaid- is beneficial in the long run. Whether it be to gain richer professional experiences or add-value to personal growth, interns need to be strategic in deciding which companies they choose to work for. Employers too should play their part by compensating if able, or being upfront when their company does not have the funds. In doing so however, risk developing a reputation for being exploitative.