British trust seeks staff for Antarctic station: counting penguins and a salary of up to 33 million soums

A vacancy at the world's southernmost post office

The British organization UK Antarctic Heritage Trust is looking for new staff to work at Port Lockroy research station, located on Goudier Island in Antarctica. Kun.uz reported this, citing Forbes. The main duties of selected staff: running the world's southernmost post office (about 80,000 letters and postcards are sorted each year), counting the penguin colony and keeping biological records, as well as working in the local museum and souvenir shop.

The conditions: five months, physical strain and life without running water

The job runs for five months, from November to March. The pay ranges from 1,449 to 2,096 pounds a month, which, according to Kun.uz's calculations, is equivalent to 23–33.3 million soums. Staff must meet physical fitness requirements: they will have to carry 20-litre water containers, lift boxes weighing up to 15 kilograms, clear snow and unload cargo from boats on slippery rocks. Candidates must live in the UK and have permission to work there officially; older applicants are welcome to apply. Living conditions at the station are spartan: there is no running water; washing is possible once a week on visiting ships, and in bad weather one may go without a shower for up to two weeks. Communication is via a limited-capacity satellite network. Staff live in a barracks with shared sleeping quarters; the indoor temperature stays at 14–15 degrees, while outside it ranges from −5 to +5. Accommodation, meals and special winter clothing are provided by the employer.

Why it matters

The vacancy primarily concerns UK residents, since the right to work in the country is a mandatory selection requirement, and it is not directly available to Uzbekistan residents; public interest has been drawn partly by the soum-based salary estimate mentioned in the Uzbek publication. In practical terms, the news means the opening of seasonal recruitment for the station, where staff are required not to have office qualifications but physical endurance and readiness to live in restricted conditions — without running water and with limited communication. Note that the details of the selection process and the exact application dates have not been disclosed in available publications.