Luxury lifestyle magazine under fire for seeking ‘unpaid’ employees

The unpaid writers should ideally have an understanding of luxury lifestyle trends, according to the adverts

A new luxury lifestyle magazine has come under fire for attempting to recruit unpaid writers to “help our readers indulge in the finer things in life”.

The job advert was shared on Linkedin, where the new magazine The Life of Luxury is attempting to hire “passionate and creative individuals to create unique, high-quality lifestyle content” – for free.

The company requests that prospective candidates have proven experience as a writer or journalist as well as “excellent writing, editing, and proofreading skills”.

Despite offering no compensation for these skills, the company ironically wants its writers to have an insight into luxury lifestyle trends.

According to its social media pages, the magazine, which is online only but going to print in January 2025, is a “go-to source for all things luxury travel, beauty, fashion, food, and drink.”

The ideal unpaid writer will be a good researcher who can meet deadlines and have strong communication and collaboration skills as they take readers on their “luxurious journey”.

“Knowledge of SEO and digital analytics preferred, but not required,” the unpaid job ad requests.

The company, which is based in London, also requires its unpaid volunteers to be “open” to travelling into the city “from time to time”.

The successful candidates will be expected to pitch and produce “a minimum of 3 articles per week.”

Despite offering no payment, workers should be ‘open’ to travelling into London. (LinkedIn)

The requirements for the unpaid role are extensive. (LinkedIn)

The job advert was circulated to a wider audience on Twitter (X) by one user who said the listing had made them “very angry”.

“This LinkedIn ad has made me very angry,” they wrote.

“This job was advertised as a ‘luxury writer’ job but it’s basically just a call out for free labour. Why should someone volunteer their time to work for a luxury title with no pay? And wtf should they write a minimum number of pieces?”

This LinkedIn ad has made me very angry. This job was advertised as a ‘luxury writer’ job but it’s basically just a call out for free labour. Why should someone volunteer their time to work for a luxury title with no pay? And wtf should they write a minimum number of pieces? pic.twitter.com/4nTT9FcGjd

— Sally Coffey (@SallyCwrites) July 1, 2024

Further investigation by The Independent discovered that The Life of Luxury is not only trying to recruit volunteer writers but experienced volunteer sub-editors too.

They are required to offer a similarly high level of skills for free.

The company was also seeking an unpaid sub-editor. (LinkedIn)

The listing for volunteer writers went far from unnoticed on Twitter (X), where users were quick to share their outrage that a company that wants to promote luxury lifestyles is asking people to work for free.

They also called into question how anyone working for free would have an insight into topics including custom designer jewellery and the luxury baby items tots require for their first year, such as a £900 car seat.

“How can a person with no income have their finger on the pulse of all things luxury?” questioned another Twitter user. “I mean, I know the answer to that question. But I hate it.”

A third outraged viewer of the ad wrote: “I wonder if we could #SaveTheNHS by advertising for unpaid enthusiastic surgeons willing to operate on at least three patients per week and be free to travel to London when required?”

“Oh yeah, travel to Europe but we won’t pay you for it,” wrote a fourth. “It’s insulting and ridiculous to expect people to do that much work and travel for free.”

Life of Luxury said that while they expect people to produce “excellent” work for free, they do offer an opportunity to gain experience in digital publishing and a flexible and remote working environment.

They also cited the additional benefits of giving their “experienced” writers a chance to grow their portfolios while working in a collaborative and supportive team.

The Independent has reached out to The Life of Luxury for further comment.