Swedish experimental art project will pay you to do nothing

The chosen employee will be paid $2,300 (£1,750) a month and receive benefits 

Chelsea Ritschel
Thursday 07 March 2019 14:33 EST
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This social experiment will pay you to do nothing for life (Stock)
This social experiment will pay you to do nothing for life (Stock)

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If the thought of spending your days getting paid to do literally whatever you want - or nothing at all - sounds appealing, a new job opportunity in Sweden may be the perfect fit.

In 2025, an art project-turned-career-opportunity will open for applications - and all it will require is showing up for work each day to clock-in.

To complete the only requirement, the chosen employee, who will receive a salary as well as employee benefits such as vacation days and a pension, will report to the Korsvägen train station in Gothenburg, Sweden, every morning to punch a clock, which will turn on a set of fluorescent lights.

Once the employee clocks in at the train station, which is currently under construction, they will then be free to spend the rest of the day doing as they wish - until it is time to clock out and turn off the lights.

Other than that, “whatever the employee chooses to do constitutes the work,” according to the job description - meaning they can leave the station or stay, if they wish.

And the dream job even comes with job stability, as it will be for life, or as long as the employee wishes to continue in the role.

The social experiment is called Eternal Employment and was created by Swedish artists Simon Goldin and Jakob Senneby, according to Atlas Obscura, who are funding the salary of the future employee with prize money from Public Art Agency Sweden and Swedish Art Transportation.

Rather than dedicating the $650,000 (£496,000) prize to decorating the train station, the artist duo decided to make a statement about the future of the work sector by giving an employee total control over their career.

“As long as we live in a society where the return on capital is substantially higher than the average increase in wages, Eternal Employment is kept afloat,” the job description reads.

Once the job opens for applicants, Goldin and Senneby told Atlas Obscura it will consider potential employees from around the world and will be an “equal opportunity employer”.

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The only other requirement is that the chosen employee not hold another paying job while in the employment of the train station - which seems like an easy request to fulfil.

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