"I Will Work for Pay"... Why Over 10,000 People Applied for the Manager Position

13,621 Applicants for 3 Positions
Individual Notifications of Successful Candidates on the 7th

More than 10,000 applicants have reportedly applied for the part-time position of daily manager for the giant panda 'Pubao'.

According to Everland and Danggeun Market on the 9th, a total of 13,621 people applied for the recently closed Pubao manager part-time job. The number of recruits was 3, resulting in a competition ratio of 4540:1.

The main duty of Pubao's manager is to prepare gifts and meals for Pubao, who will celebrate his birthday on the 20th. The manager will assist Pubao's caretaker. However, for Pubao's stability, the manager cannot approach or touch the animal. The manager works for one hour on a chosen day before the birthday and receives 500,000 won.

Due to the fierce competition, netizens have shown great interest in this part-time job. Comments on Everland's Instagram account included "I can work even without pay," "I want to be a manager even if I have to pay," and "I am a Puchinja (someone crazy about Pubao)."

The application form included a question asking applicants to write about their affection and aspirations for Pubao, and successful candidates were individually notified on the 7th.

On the 3rd, at Everland in Yongin-si, Gyeonggi Province, baby panda Pubao is lying on the ice rock 'Cooldrock' to cool off from the heat. [Image source=Yonhap News]

This recruitment was reportedly planned by Danggeun Market to introduce its job information service 'Danggeun Alba.' They selected 100 people for unique jobs such as Pubao manager, Amazon Express part-time job, and water gun fight experience part-time job, attracting a total of 32,271 applicants.

Meanwhile, Pubao was born in July 2020 at Everland Panda World to the female panda Aibao and the male panda Lubao. At that time, Pubao's birth scene was even broadcast on terrestrial TV, drawing attention domestically.

Interest in Pubao, the only baby panda in Korea, remains ongoing. Panda-related videos on Everland's official YouTube channel and the talking zoo PuppaTV YouTube channel recorded a total of 25 million views in May alone. Additionally, it was found that one out of every ten visitors to Everland purchased panda-related goods such as dolls and hairbands as souvenirs.

However, since Pubao is a panda sent to a domestic zoo by China on a lease basis, he must return to China in his fourth year of life when sexual maturity is reached for species breeding. Pubao's parents, Aibao and Lubao, were also leased pandas in 2016 and must return to China in 2031.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.