Tech still leads the list despite the sector’s recent layoffs and rocky outlook.
(Bloomberg) — The highest-paying US internships are still in tech, despite the industry’s mass layoffs and shift to austerity in recent months.
More than half of the 25 most richly rewarding internships are in the technology industry, according to Glassdoor, a website that compiles workers’ reviews of their employers. The ranking was based on salary reports from March 2022 to March 2023 by current and former US-based interns on the platform.
Fintech firm Stripe Inc. and video game developer Roblox Corp. topped the list with an average salary of more than $9,000 a month for the temporary, entry-level gigs, which mostly go to college students and recent graduates. That would translate to a wage of about $56 an hour or an annual salary of about $108,000.
That’s more than double what the average intern actually made in 2022, about $25 per hour, which itself represented an 11% jump from the average pay of the year before.
The business outlook for a number of the top-paying companies ranges from gloomy to dire after a tough year for finance and tech. Credit Suisse Group AG — which ranked No. 7 on the list — suffered a crisis of confidence this year that ultimately led the Swiss government to broker a rescue from UBS Group AG, which has said it may let go of as many as 36,000 employees worldwide as part of the takeover. Others, like Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., have slashed their workforces by tens of thousands this year.
Read more: UBS Joins a Rising Tide of Global Layoffs Beyond Big Tech
Glassdoor included a measure of each company’s business outlook alongside average pay, with the ratings based on reviews from full-time and part-time US employees in late March. One standout in terms of outlook is chipmaker Nvidia Corp., which comes in third for best pay while also boasting an exceptionally strong business outlook, according to employee reviews.
Beyond tech, other well-paid internships can be found on Wall Street and in consulting, from finance companies like Capital One Financial Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to advisory firms like McKinsey & Co. and Bain & Co.
“While the current labor market has cast a shadow over many companies’ summer internship programs, this report is a reminder that many companies do pay interns, and some pay quite competitively,” said Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor’s lead economist. “For anyone searching for an internship this summer, it might not be in your best interest to accept the first unpaid, coffee-fetching gig that comes along.”
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