Interns cost money by requiring training and a place to work, and by being a distraction. I bet interns bring value, but depending on the kind of work it may w

Interns cost money by requiring training and a place to work, and by being a distraction. I bet interns bring value, but depending on the kind of work it may well be that the value they bring would have cost an experienced employee less time to realize than they spent bringing the intern up to speed. There are lots of intangible benefits too, but I can well imagine that in a straightforward reckoning the net value is close to zero, especially for short internships.