Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2011, in the middle of Spain’s economic crisis. The remarks about companies cutting staff and the forecast that the crisis would last “a few more years” reflect that moment.
Many people wouldn’t consider working for free a job at all, but rather a hobby. Even so, the desperation to find work has made the practice grow in our country.
Companies are not in their best shape to take on new staff. Quite the opposite: they are still thinking about further cuts to their workforce. So qualified people who lost their jobs some time ago and see no prospect of finding a new one in the short to medium term are turning this new… “arrangement” into their best calling card for getting into a company.
With a practice that may seem “healthy” at first, we all know there will always be people looking for ways to take advantage of these willing workers, edging towards labour exploitation with the worker’s consent and the comfort of knowing the law won’t come after them.
My personal view of this kind of practice is clear:
- Work must be paid: You can agree to a lower salary, but you have to receive financial compensation for the work you do. Otherwise, it really isn’t a job but a hobby.
- Think about the consequences: Everyone who is willing to work without pay is putting at risk the job of someone else who can afford neither to work unpaid nor to lose their job.
- Value yourself: Professionalism and qualifications have a price, and the measure of that price is the salary. I believe a company should look for the best professionals to help it get out of the crisis with new initiatives, not for “sandbags” that only drag out the agony of an inevitable sinking. Don’t devalue yourself in the job market.
As a business owner, I’d love to have people working for me for nothing. But since I don’t run a charity, it scares me to think that if the crisis drags on for a few more years (which is the most likely outcome), we could end up with a labour situation like the one 50 years ago, when people were willing to work in exchange for a sandwich and a place to sleep.
Further reading
Featured image: Kārlis Dambrāns, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
