Spain's internship trap: the 33-year-old pilot case

Spain's internship trap: the 33-year-old pilot case

He is 33 years old, has €11,240 in savings, zero debt and a pilot's licence. Yet he lives with his parents in Vigo and has just been fired from an internship for reading the newspaper. The paradox is perfect: a profile with education and savings, trapped in the cycle of precarious internships.

The internship system as cheap labour

Since 2011, this young man has held a string of jobs paying under €1,000 a month. After training as a pilot in 2015, he has worked as an instructor, delivery driver, coordinator and trainer. His latest experience was an internship at a machining company, where he was given administrative tasks and fired for failing to fix clock-in records he was never shown. His case is not an isolated one: the Spanish job market is full of 30-year-old interns because companies have turned training into cheap labour. Bosses don't want people who think; they want drones who don't make a fuss. Initiative, productivity reports and improvement proposals are punished with the exit door.

The way out is not abroad

Emigrating is a common temptation. But with conversational English and just three months of industry experience, the German or Dutch market offers no opportunities. They want technical profiles who master the language, not 33-year-old interns. The real alternative is to break the cycle: take another internship with a six-month maximum, or find a job that pays and leaves time, even if it's outside the sector. The key is not to measure your worth by the salary of a training contract, but by your ability to escape the environment that is consuming you.

The question remains open: how many profiles like this are doomed to repeat the cycle until they turn 40?