Couldn't this result in bad publicity? "Hot startup XYZ said they'd train me to get a job in tech and all I did was data entry for 3 months and I still can't get a job"
Nope! But data entry can be meaningful work experience for someone new to the working world. [thanks to _dps for the clarification!]
This is the practical work component of a larger curriculum carried out by civic job training programs. These programs conclude with job placement, so the startups involved simply donate work and forget about it.
FWIW, I personally don't think you need to dodge the "data entry as job training" angle.
It's easy for us on HN to feel uncomfortable about this because we see data entry as among the lowest jobs one could have in the IT ecosystem. But I'd ask the audience to consider this from the point of view of someone down-and-out in the job market (I'm sure you yourself have already entertained similar thoughts). I'll share a personal anecdote on this point: a good friend of mine once suffered from a medical condition that prevented him from pursuing a traditional career for a period of several years, and the availability of 2-3 month data entry gigs was the difference between complete professional inactivity and:
1) proving to someone that despite his condition he could show up on time to a job with bounded time commitments and execute his job
2) having an income at all, and the self respect that goes with that
3) having a professional network, unsophisticated though it might be, that can say "Yes, Person X can handle taking your paper legal documents and getting the relevant fields mapped into an Access database".
My friend found a leg up through such a job and overcame some of the unemployment adversity imposed by a personal medical problem. I imagine others could find a leg up to overcome poor family circumstances, lack of educational opportunity, or other impediments to establishing one's career.
I personally think there's nothing wrong with providing opportunities near the bottom of the ladder and calling them job training, because an important portion of job training at that level is the meta-skill of showing up, doing what you promised, and establishing credibility with people who can vouch for you down the line.
Couldn't this result in bad publicity? "Hot startup XYZ said they'd train me to get a job in tech and all I did was data entry for 3 months and I still can't get a job"