Unemployed? Saudi Arabia is Hiring Executioners, No Skill or Education Required

Saudi Arabia, one of the world's most repressive regimes, is looking to hire as many as eight new executioners to behead and dismember people found guilty of various crimes.

The New York Times reports that the job postings appeared on the Saudi Ministry of Civil Service. Like the Islamic State, the government of Saudi Arabia will behead people as a punishment for crimes. Despite this policy, the United States is one of Saudi Arabia's staunchest allies.

To be an executioner, there are no educational or technical requirements. The salary for the position was not posted on the website, but the executioner in the province of Qassim is reported to make an extra $1,000 for every head he chops off.

In some regions of the country, the position is hereditary and passes from father to son.

Among the crimes that make a person eligible for execution in Saudi Arabia are adultery, drug smuggling, gun running, and murder. Like the Taliban in Afghanistan, which was overthrown in the US invasion after the 9/11 attacks, if a person is found guilty of adultery they will be stoned to death.

Since the start of 2015, 85 people have been executed by the Saudi regime. That puts the country on pace to double the 88 executions in all of 2014. Of the 85 executions that have taken place in 2015, 35 were for nonviolent drug offenses.

It is unclear why the number of executions has risen so dramatically, but it may have something to do with the ascension of the new king, Salman.

Crimes punished by decapitation include drug smuggling and murder. The Saudi government also regularly dismembers its citizens if they are found guilty of theft, by cutting off one or both of the victim's hands.