Liam Reese, Head of People at ClickOut Media recently spoke to HR Magazine and shared both his own and the company’s view on unpaid internships, which are a growing trend in the marketing industry.

He believes that internships are one of the most valuable recruitment sources for any marketing agency, and that investing in training for interns is the ‘right thing’ and can be a ‘long-term investment in your own success’. However, Reese stated that he believes that there should be safety nets to protect interns and that it should be illegal to offer internships that are unpaid.He said:

I think unpaid internships should be illegal. I’m certainly not the first person to propose this and hopefully, I won’t be the last. Most existing employment law around payment for internships in the UK is the result of debates in Parliament proposing to ban unpaid labour.

Liam Reese, Head of People

Reese added that it’s important that talent mapping includes ‘lower-level positions that have the room to grow into key members of the team’.

ClickOut Media have had six apprentices since May 2024 – of which two have completed their apprenticeships and joined the company full-time, with the others completing their courses before joining.

Many at ClickOut Media started out as apprentices, interns or worked part-time or freelance. Some of which are now running departments.

Reese reiterated that ‘fair rates of pay’ is the ‘right thing to do’ and can serve as a strategy to raise employee satisfaction and decrease turnover and that diversity and paid internships go hand-in-hand.

Statistically, young people who can work for free are often those with generational wealth and the ability to be supported financially. While people of colour, LGBTQ+ young people and young parents will be affected by policies including unpaid labour.

Reese concluded: “Ultimately, I believe that apprentices are the future of employment and that investing in their training and wellbeing is a long-term investment in your own success.

“At the end of the day, many companies expect young people to work for free, because that’s ‘what they did when they were young’.

“But just because something has ‘always been that way’ doesn’t mean it’s right – we used to think work houses and child labour were morally acceptable, and now we know better. And once we know better, we can do better.”

This article was featured in HR Magazine.