Is this the world’s best job? Earn $32k a year just by cuddling pandas

Earn $32,000 a year just by cuddling with pandas? This may just be the just the best job ever.

The Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre in China is serious about their job offer. “Your work has only one mission: spending 365 days with the pandas and sharing in their joys and sorrows!”

Part of the job is for the caretaker to help feed the pandas and clean their pens. But most of the time, the person hired for this awesome job will be hugging and cuddling with the baby pandas. While many may wish—and even pay—to hug these little cuties, some lucky person out there will be paid to do it.

Aside from the $32k annual salary, the panda caretakers also get free board and lodging as well as a transportation allowance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w58kdRIk54A

But before you envy these pampered employees, the co-organizer of the recruitment campaign just might dampen the enthusiasm a bit. Ye Mingxin (who is also the market manager for Ford Motor Co in China) said, “You need perseverance for this job. We expect that the applicants will be mainly white-collar workers from big cities. They are used to eating whatever they want, but inside the giant panda base, the choices will not be plentiful.”

Applicants might need to be fluent in Chinese as well.

Here’s the panda center’s official website: fun.sohu.com (it’s in Chinese).