Interns at big tech companies keep hope alive amid economic downturn
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Tim Cook said Apple plans to be more deliberate about hiring in certain areas of the business in 2023, but summer interns are optimistic about their prospects at Apple and elsewhere.
After two years of confusion and shifting focus, big tech companies haven’t slowed down on hiring interns. A report released Thursday sheds light on some interns, offers, and the steps they must go through to get hired.
Microsoft interns have expressed their happiness at the number of permanent job openings available at the company. Some of Meta’s top interns have already received return offers, made earlier in 2022 than the company’s historical model.
A senior student interning at Apple received a verbal offer for a permanent job with the company, just before her internship ended in mid-August. Talk to Information for Thursday’s report, she called Apple a “port in the storm,” a good place to ride out economic woes.
Big Tech interns are optimistic
Interns are a valuable source of new talent and are generally paid less than employees because they find their strengths in the companies they have chosen. For example, Google said it had over 3,500 interns working for it in 2021.
Although interns are usually only with a company for three months, some companies view their role as an extended interview for a permanent position. Summer interns entering their senior year of college often receive these job offers and they help each other stay competitive.
Microsoft’s latest summer intern class saw spreadsheets circulated by interns with compensation figures for permanent jobs at the company, according to three interns. They went on to say that virtually every member of their team has received a return offer.
According to one such spreadsheet at Microsoft, the company has offered software engineers about $118,000 in the past, with a $35,000 signing bonus and $120,000 in restricted stock over four years.
Meta interns also compiled spreadsheets with anonymously submitted information on work rates. For example, the median salary for software engineers is $136,000 with a signing bonus of $75,000 and $220,000 in restricted stock over four years.
At other companies, interns who are not involved in programming may have a different experience. A senior from Carnegie Mellon University said she had not received any permanent job offers from Meta despite taking extra work and making sure she had good comments.
During a July session with employees, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said those job offers would be sent to a smaller than usual percentage of the company’s intern class.
Meta froze its hiring process in May 2022, blaming iOS 14’s privacy changes that could impact its revenue. Meta CFO David Wehner said he faced slower revenue growth but remained optimistic.