Internships at any time of your life

It seems like most internships are not so much a "free trial" for the internee, but an extended, interactive interview and test of skills, personality, and attitude. They exist so that firms don't get stuck with inept workers.

There are also significant costs associated with interns (e.g. training, relocation) which are depreciated if the intern gets hired. Having an intern program like he describes would definitely see an increase in those costs, which makes it a disincentive for firms to have such a program.

That said, I'd love to have the opportunity to intern anywhere at any stage in my life.

The idea of companies getting free labor isn't neccessarily true, at least not for more meaningful jobs where the lead in time from hiring to productivity is longer (hence the desire for low turnover).

However, I believe what this article is suggesting that if the system were to change so internships as "free trial[s]" were the norm companies would likely have better hires in the long term.

Since markets with more liquidity adjust more rapidly, allowing people to move around more and allowing companies to better hire for culture fit (which may be hard to determine in a series of interviews) would ultimately result in a happier (and more efficient) labor market. Interesting idea.

This article focuses on the receptor side (company employing for a trial) and glosses over the donor side (organisation that loses/offers the person for trial). Universities aren't affected by students taking internships over summer breaks, and are hardly affected by students inserting internships during semesters. However candidates at later stages of life are likely to either have an employer (who is likely to incur disruption and have little incentive for allowing extended leave), or be unemployed (which makes them less attractive for receptors).