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Why Should I Hire an Intern Right Now?

From maintaining employee retention and a healthy company culture to ensuring employee satisfaction and levels of productivity, the COVID-19 pandemic altered the way many organizations operate their business. At a more micro view, employers who transitioned from managing a staff in person to having a team of remote and/or hybrid workers have faced, and continue to face, the challenges of keeping their employees engaged, motivated, and comfortable with their evolving work conditions.

At an even deeper look, companies have had to get creative in the ways they provide work experience and professional development opportunities for their interns, which are part of Generation Z (Gen Z) - the youngest and largest age group in American history. To satisfy the hunger for knowledge of a population that grew up on the internet and YouTube, an online video-sharing platform that offers instructional videos for practically every subject imaginable, organizations will need to discover dynamic solutions that capture attention and keep their learners engaged.

So, if companies are already facing a multitude of unsolicited interruptions, why would they willingly add more to their plate by hiring an intern right now? For starters, here are just a few important reasons why:

Secure Future Talent

Employers can build a pipeline of future full-time talent without running the risk of hiring an applicant who ends up being the wrong person for the job. Internships provide a test-run for both the student and the employer. Gen Z interns get a true sense of what the company culture and potential full-time job would be like, and employers get valuable insight of the student's personal qualities, skill sets, and potential.

Bank on Financial Savings

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, an estimated 30% of an employee's first-year salary could be the hefty price a business pays due to a bad hire. Assessing whether a student would make a good fit for the job during his or her internship could wind up saving an organization a pretty penny. In addition, Gen Z'ers are inexpensive assets. Although the pay range varies considerably depending on different variables, the average wage of paid interns in the United States is $15.03 per hour, according to ZipRecruiter's October 2021 database scan.

Keep Up with Technology

Guy Yehiav, a member of the Forbes Technology Council, stated that “Gen Z is a population of critical importance to the future development of enterprise technology, both as consumers and as workplace employees." This tech- and social media-savvy generation can play a significant part in a company's education and integration of the latest technology, techniques, and trends. They can also help businesses strategically leverage their social media presence, marketability, and efficiencies with the fresh knowledge they obtain in school and from their invaluable personal experience.