‘Kneeling service’: Shanghai ‘lady’ seeks obedient ‘personal nanny’ with low self-esteem who will dress and undress her for US$20,000 a month
- Prospective employer lists draconian demands such as putting on her shoes, undressing her ‘when she shakes her shoulders’ and 12-hour shifts
- People express shock at strictures of job advert, saying it harks back to a time before 1949 founding of People’s Republic of China
Mainland social media has been shocked by a Shanghai woman who wants to recruit a “personal nanny” willing to provide a “kneeling service” like that of “servant girls in ancient times”.
The prospective employer – who is offering to pay a whopping 140,000 yuan (US$20,000) a month – said the maid should be able to “tell when it is time to put on the lady’s shoes when she stretches out her feet and undress her when she shakes her shoulders.”
The post, which has gone viral, also requires applicants to be “observant and not to have strong self-esteem”.
Also, applicants should be “taller than 165cm and weigh less than 55kg, have a secondary school degree or above, a clean-looking face and be able to sing and dance well.”
The advert was published by an agent from a Shanghai-based housekeeping service company that serves mostly “middle class” customers, the Chinese media outlet Hongxing News reported on May 13.
When a Hongxing News reporter contacted the agent, named Lisa, posing as a potential applicant, Lisa said the employer had already recruited two non-live-in nannies to work in 12-hour day and night shifts, each of whom was being paid 140,000 yuan a month.
Lisa said as well as usual housekeeping duties, the day nanny, who works from 7am to 7pm, was required to put on the lady’s socks and shoes and wait by the door 10 minutes before she arrives home, before taking off her shoes.
The night nanny must wash and massage the lady’s feet and prepare water and fruit anytime she orders.
Lisa added that the work was not easy but the nannies “worked hard to keep the job”.
The average monthly salary in Shanghai in 2021 was 11,396 yuan (US$1,600), according to the municipality’s Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.
While many online were shocked by the sky-high salary, some expressed an interest in applying for the job.
One said half-jokingly: “I already have no dignity doing a job that pays me 5,000 yuan a month, so what if a boss that pays me 140,000 yuan a month hurts my feelings? I have no self-esteem at work anyway.”
Another joked: “If I got the job, I would hire a nanny to take care of me after work and pay her 14,000 yuan a month.”
However, there was also criticism.
“It makes me feel as if I am living in a time gone by,” one online observer said, referring to the period before the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.
Wang Xiaobing, president of Chengdu Housekeeping Industry Association, said he had never heard of anyone paying such a huge salary for a nanny, the cost of which is normally 6,000 yuan a month.
As for the demanding employment conditions, Wang said they were allowed as long as they were agreed upon in advance by both parties, and don’t break the law or infringe upon people’s legal rights.
