The Sunset of Interns

For John, BLUF:  Did you expect any other outcome?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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So, here is the headline:

In Unintended, But Totally Expected, Consequences:  Condé Nast Eliminates Internship Program

It turns out that Condé Nast hires used to hire "interns".  In my mind interns are underpaid or unpaid people who are hired on to learn the ropes of some job and in the process, contribute to the organization where they are interning.  The US Air Force has a program like that, called Education with Industry, or EWI.♠  Neophytes are sent out to various industries to learn something about the acquisition business.  No cost to the host company, which gets cheap labor.

So, here is the story, as told by Reporter Jess Remington at Reason, on 5 November of this year.  It is about...

...two former interns, [Ms] Lauren Ballinger and [Mr] Matthew Leib; in June, the interns sued Condé Nast for months of backpay, alleging that the publisher violated federal and state labor laws.

Did the two interns not understand the game?  Did they not understand that they would kill the deal for thousands of others coming after them?  Was this outcome totally beyond reason?

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  I did EWI with Honeywell Corporation, just north of St Petersburg, Florida.  My follow-on assignment was Research and Development Contracting at Eglin Air Force Base, outside Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  I escaped the pay-back tour early by volunteering to go back to the War in Southeast Asia.