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‘10 paise a word’: Legal researcher says she was offered ₹50 for 500-word article
A LinkedIn post by a legal researcher has reignited the debate around fair pay for skilled work.
A legal researcher has raised questions about low pay for skilled professionals after sharing a job offer that left many surprised. In a LinkedIn post, she revealed that she was offered just ₹50 to write a 500-word legal article despite her academic achievements and years of study.
The post was shared on LinkedIn by Ipshita Goyal.
She wrote, "Today, I received what someone called an 'opportunity'. I was offered ₹50 for every 500 words of legal content writing. For a moment, I smiled. Then I paused. Years of studying law. A double gold medal. Research publications. Endless nights in libraries. Hours spent understanding judgments, statutes and policy. And somewhere, all of that was valued at 10 paise a word."
She added, "This isn't a post about entitlement. No degree guarantees success. But it does make me wonder: What is the bigger tragedy in India? Unemployment, or the normalisation of underpaying skilled labour?"
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The legal researcher went on to say that the market had become accustomed to cheap intellectual work, where asking for fair compensation was often seen as arrogance while exploitative pay was presented as an opportunity.
She also pointed out that many talented students and young professionals accept such offers because they have bills to pay and very few opportunities to choose from. Concluding her post, she wrote, "Perhaps the real crisis isn't the lack of jobs. Perhaps it's that we've become comfortable treating knowledge, research and professional expertise as disposable. We can, and should, do better."
Take a look:
Professionals share similar experiences
One person wrote, "I'm just curious. Where will you spend this hefty amount of money? I think you should donate some of it to the legal fraternity."
Another commented, "This is one reason I am not hiring. I am not at a stage where I can pay people according to their skills. I'd rather wait until I can offer fair compensation. That said, some small startups genuinely cannot pay much in the beginning, and if someone is comfortable joining with that understanding, there's nothing wrong with it."
A third user wrote, "Junior advocates face this every day. Many seniors expect us to work eight to 10 hours without pay in the name of hard work."
Another commented, "Cheap intellectual labour is one of the reasons so many multinational companies operate in India. It is difficult to accept, but it's the reality."
"This should not happen. It's sad that people still have to deal with this," wrote another.
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One person added, "Isliye sab sarkari naukari chahte hai. Sarkari naukari isliye highly competitive ho gayi hai. Pvt sector is blood sucking and soul stirring to the employees while the owners enjoy huge benefits."
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)
