Nannies in Shanghai are paid around 6,000 yuan a month on average. - Reuters
SHANGHAI (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): A woman in the Chinese city is looking for a “personal nanny” who is “observant” and does not have “strong self-esteem”, according to a report in the South China Morning Post.
The nanny needs to be able to anticipate her employer’s needs, including when to put her shoes on for her when she stretches out her feet and “undress her when she shakes her shoulders”.
The helper would also need to be willing to provide a “kneeling service” as “servant girls in ancient times” did.
Physically, applicants for the job should be taller than 165cm, weigh less than 55kg and have a clean-looking face.
Of course the nanny would need to have something between the ears as well, so a minimum education qualification applies – in this case, a secondary school certificate.
Oh, and the ability to “sing and dance well”.
If you think you are a right fit for the job and are considering sending in an application, you would be happy to know that the role comes with a handsome remuneration package – a whopping 140,000 yuan (S$26,800) a month.
That is about as much as the keeper of the privy purse at Buckingham Palace earns, according to a 2020 report by Hello magazine.
The average monthly salary in Shanghai in 2021 was 11,396 yuan, according to the municipality’s Human Resources and Social Security Bureau.
Nannies in Shanghai are paid around 6,000 yuan a month on average.
The job listing was published by an agent from a Shanghai-based housekeeping service.
It serves mostly “middle class” customers, Chinese media outlet Hongxing News reported last Saturday.
It seems the employer already has two non-live-in nannies working 12-hour day and night shifts. They are being paid 140,000 yuan a month.
According to Hongxing News, the day nanny is required, among other things, to put on the lady’s socks and shoes and wait for her by the door before she returns home.
The nanny who works the night shift must wash and massage the lady’s feet, and prepare water and fruit at any time the employer orders.
While many netizens were shocked by the salary, some said they would consider applying for the job.
“I already have no dignity doing a job that pays me 5,000 yuan a month, so what if a boss pays me 140,000 yuan a month to hurt my feelings?” one said half-jokingly.
Others said if they got the job, they in turn would hire a nanny to take care of them after work, “and pay her 14,000 yuan a month”.
There was criticism too, of course. One person said the demands listed in the job posting made them feel like they were “living in a time gone by”.
Wang Xiaobing, president of Chengdu Housekeeping Industry Association, said he had never heard of anyone paying such a huge salary for a nanny.
Where the demanding work conditions were concerned, he said so long as they are agreed upon by both parties, and no laws are broken or legal rights infringed, they were allowed.
