China funeral home sets spine-chilling condition for jobseekers: ‘Spend 10 minutes in morgue’

A job posting for a morgue manager in China requires candidates to endure 10 minutes in a freezing morgue.

A funeral home in China shocked many online after it advertised for a “morgue manager” position with a monthly salary of $300 but required every candidate to spend 10 minutes in a freezing cold morgue to qualify for an interview.

The morgue manager position pays $300 a month, the job advertisement said. (Representational)

The job posting from the Rushan Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security outlines the requirements for prospective candidates: they must be male, under 45 years old, have at least a junior secondary school education, and be able to work 24-hour shifts, reported the South China Morning Post.

The position comes with a three-year contract, and applicants are required to pay a $10 exam fee.

Explaining the reason behind the bizarre hiring condition, the staff member said, “The special requirement is just a test method because some people have strong taboos or fears staying too long in such settings, but our work requires someone who can remain in the room for more than 10 minutes.”

Criteria for psychological resilience

The number of applicants for the job remains unknown, but funeral home experts suggest the on-site test might aim to evaluate a candidate’s psychological resilience, despite its seemingly unethical nature.

“In practice, positions like body management and crematory work offer higher pay than regular staff because they are specialised. You can do professional psychological tests or set up an internship period, but this type of on-site test before the interview is inappropriate," they said

China’s funeral services market had expanded from $22 billion in 2015 to $42 billion by 2022.

Social media amused

The job posting went viral on Chinese social media and amused users who made jokes about encountering ghosts at work. “This is much better than interviewing 10 living people. At least they did not ask me to stay in a crematorium for 10 minutes!” said one of them.

“You have never worked before? The dead are not frightened because after starting to work, your grievances will weigh more than that of a ghost," said a second user.

“I could stay for 10 hours, just give me a book and a bottle of water. But the pay is too low. It is not the fear that holds you back, but the salary,” said another user.