Are You Going To Pay Your Interns Fairly?

Hi Guys,

In a episode 0188 of The Tek: Valve Should Buy AMD, Logan mentioned, "as we get situated here in Seattle, I'm sure I'll get some interns...." Media is notorious for unpaid internships. Are you going to pay your interns fairly for the work they do? Other businesses and productions exploit theirs to nth degree, relegating them to making copies, doing mail, and barely or nothing actually media-related. Even though the problem of unpaid internships has improved since I was doing mine, there is still a long way to go.

I love what you guys do for the tech community, but if Tek Syndicate does indeed start taking unpaid interns in the future, it will throw your integrity into question. It goes against my principles. It seems like it would go against Tek Syndicate's principles too. That's why I'm writing about this. I need to know where you guys stand on this. I hope you'll set a positive example for other businesses to follow, especially the media industry, (even if you guys are small fry). I also hope you will address this important issue on The Tek.

Equal pay for equal work.

Lol not sure if trolling? We already have had interns working on various projects. Always paid more than minimum wage and usually school credit too. Sometimes summer workers only but this goes back years. No vacancies at the moment.

Perhaps I have a different perspective because I see us in the tech industry wirh media connections rather than directly a part of the Freudian nightmare that is the media industry. The tech industry doesn't have unpaid work of any kind that I'm aware of.

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I refuse to allow anyone to do any work for us for free. I resent the fact that you even think we will be like those other shitty companies. Wendell has had people do work for the site and other things in KY. I have had a few interns here and there and have currently had plenty of luck with someone locally... and I pay for work.

This is a non-issue. No need to ever think about it again.

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Case Closed

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I troll you not. This was a serious inquiry. You may consider yourselves a tech company, but you do produce media. Yeah, you're not like producing TV shows or movies or music, but it's still media. I guess it's more of a gray area though.

Thank you both for your responses. I'm sorry if I offended you, @Logan. I couldn't be the only one that's thought about this though. There are people that said they would never do certain things and over the course of time, not out of malice or whatever, wind up doing those exact things. Sometimes staying true is difficult, but you've reassured me you will do your best to make sure that doesn't happen.

I'm very happy to continue to support this community with a clear conscience now.