We all dream of sleeping all day, binge-watching movies or reading a great book, on our day off. But could you imagine an actual job that lets you do all this or absolutely nothing? A Swedish Train Station is gearing up to offer you this opportunity with the Eternal Employment project.
It is essentially, a position that encourages you to do nothing and pays you for it. Moreover, it’s a job you can’t be fired from! Pack your bags people, kyunki Sweden is clearly the place to be.
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity will be up for grabs in 2025 to one lucky winner. The workplace is to be the Korsvägen, train station (which is under construction at present) in Gothenburg. The sole requirements would be to clock in and clock out at the end of your shift! Furthermore, you must be stationed at the mandated goal post for the rest of your days.
What’s the big idea?
Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby are Swedish artists who designed this experiment. Calling it ‘Eternal Employment’, they’ve arranged funds of around $650,000 (Rs. 4.5 crores) from the Public Art Agency Sweden. Together with the Swedish Transit Administration, the artists launched the Eternal Employment foundation, reports Jezebel.
Yes, folks! It shall generate the funds and create a board that will later select and compensate the forever employee. The two intend that “the foundation will be an equal opportunity employer.”
Curious about the job description? Here’s what they propose!
“The position holds no duties or responsibilities, other than that it should be carried out at Korsvägen. Whatever the employee choses to do constitutes the work.”
Wondering about the tenure? Well, it is a full-time job that shall last for the length of the employee’s remaining lifespan or until they wish to quit. If the person happens to quit or retire, then a new forever employee will be recruited. Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?
But the best part is that Sweden has spectacular employee benefits for the public sector. The Eternal Employee can avail “working hours, holiday entertainment, pension provision, notice period,” and annual increments on the pay! The Eternal employment foundation shall then study the case and produce news, stories about the worker who has a job he or she can’t be fired from!
While they’ve addressed the art side of it, take a peek at the science of it- math equations based on the artists’ interpretation of economist Thomas Picketty state-
“For Eternal Employment the continued high rate of return on capital is a premise. The fact that r [return on capital] > g [economic growth] keeps the project afloat. In this sense the artwork can function as a measure of our growing inequality.”
Too complex? Well, the long and short of it is that one very lucky employee can have a job that allows them to read, or watch movies, binge eat or even simply snooze. Would you take up this exciting position?