BFI ‘took on free interns to plug gap after redundancies’

The British Film Institute has been accused of using unpaid interns to fill the gap after it axed nearly a fifth of its workforce.

The body, which took over from the now defunct UK Film Council last year, cut 72 jobs in 2011 after a reduction in government funding.

In November the BFI advertised 18 unpaid internships in human resources, development and strategy, of which at least 13 positions have now been filled.

Intern Aware, which campaigns for companies to pay interns, said that the job descriptions for internships are identical to the roles that would otherwise be undertaken by paid staff.

Gus Baker, co-director of Intern Aware, said: “The publicly funded BFI appear to be plugging the gaps in their organisation after redundancies by using unpaid interns.

“This is an insult to hard-working young people who want to get a job but can’t afford to work for free.”

Jobseeker Neil Jones launched a petition on Change.org last month which has gathered more than a hundred signatures demanding that the BFI take action.

In a statement the BFI said: “It is not the case that BFI interns replace paid members of staff.

“The voluntary interns do not cover the 72 posts reduced in 2011 in response to the Comprehensive Spending Review, which included Executive and senior professional posts.”