There was understandable outrage on Twitter on Wednesday morning when ads emerged offering two apprenticeships at Vice for the miserly salary of £109.20 ($167.27) a week, or £2.73 an hour.
Can we get a comment from @VICEUK? My question is: are you taking the piss? http://t.co/4XmHUEZNfi
— Federica Cocco (@federicacocco) March 4, 2015
For a company valued at $2.5bn (£1.6bn), the figure seemed a little mean.
However, according to Vice and DV8 Apprenticeships, the company which operates the schemes, the bare minimum salary was posted by mistake, and the actual figure on offer is £11,400 per annum or about £219 a week.
While that might not be a lot for someone living in London, where the jobs are based, it’s not far below the median £238 salary the UK’s lowest rungs of apprentices can expect.
A Vice spokesman said of the scheme: “This is in keeping with Vice’s ethos to provide meaningful opportunities to young people from a diverse range of backgrounds trying to get into full-time work.”
Though, given Vice UK’s Twitter profile simply says “we suck less than most other companies”, whacking on an extra £20 to that weekly pay packet might be a good idea.
