Earlier quoted context omitted.
When I graduated (5-10 years ago) internships were the best way to grain experience and stand out a bit above the rest in the full time hiring portion. 1. The company that hired the interns received a fantastic deal on labor. I think the company that hired me did it because they had an extra fully equipped desk that was going to waste without someone coding on it. 2. Not every student earned an internship, so gaining…
The hard part is finding one that's paid, or pays enough. Most people can't afford to do un(der)paid labor for the prospect of maybe, possibly, but maybe not getting a job. Being able to do unpaid labor selects for people with other things working in their favor.
I just finished supervising the summer interns embedded with my team at work, and we definitely paid everyone, allowed remote work, and brought everyone into the HQ for a week towards the end (flights, hotel, transpo, meals all comped) to give presentations, network in person with the team, do field trips / team building stuff, etc. I like to think we do a better-than-average job, but it's pretty close to what you need to be doing if you want to attract good talent to your internship program.