Honestly, if i am the one, i will take the traineeship anytime. at least, come next yr, when the economy is better, i can smoke through and said that this is the traineeship program blah blah, and not subject to being seen as an experienced hire, which most likely will be based on the previous salary page.

The next hirer will always take this based on the previous salary and top at most another 10-20%, which is in this case, no different from grad hired prior to the covid-19.