Interns paid as little as 500 euros a month, while unpaid placements become more common
The share of internship advertisements offering unpaid positions has risen from 4.5% to 7.3% in recent years, according to job search service Duunitori.
A recent analysis of over 14,000 internship advertisements on Duunitori, a Finnish job portal, reveals significant issues with salary transparency and the prevalence of unpaid placements. In 52% of the advertisements, employers either did not specify a salary or indicated that the internship was unpaid. This is a concerning trend, particularly when considering that unpaid internships accounted for 7.3% of the advertisements in 2025 and 2026, up from 4.5% in 2023 and 2024.
Unpaid internships were notably common in the fields of human resources, recruitment, marketing, and communications. Public-sector employers were more likely to disclose internship salaries and offer paid positions. Among those that did reveal a monthly salary, the most frequent range was between 1,500 - 2,000 euros. However, one insurance company, Lähi-Tapiola, is offering a full-time internship in debt collection services for as little as 500 euros a month.
The company's Director of People and Culture, Susa Nikula, explained that while the internship is part of applicants' studies, they pay a salary to attract more applicants. She acknowledged that 500 euros might be considered too little, but also noted that some companies offer free internships. Lähi-Tapiola has hired around 150 interns across Finland in the winter season.
Lotta Viljamaa, a recruitment expert at Duunitori, highlighted that the lack of salary information is a broader problem in job advertisements, not limited to internships. She noted that applicants often do not know what they will be paid or what they are applying for when salary information is not provided. Viljamaa suggested that this issue reflects the general reluctance in Finland to openly discuss salaries.
The increasing difficulty in finding internships and jobs in certain fields, such as business, has led to a surge in applications. Lähi-Tapiola, like other employers, has seen more competition for these positions. Despite the challenges, both Nikula and Viljamaa emphasized the importance of transparency in internship advertisements, urging companies to clearly indicate whether a position is paid and, if so, how much it pays.
Written by urgent.news from Yle News Finland's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
