This question was recently posed at both Ask Reddit and Quora. Many of the responses are fascinating. Here are a few of them.
Alireza Behooz says that in Tehran, Iran, some drivers hire people to walk behind their cars when they drive into restricted areas:
I think this happens only in Tehran. Some people get paid to walk behind your car, so the traffic cameras can not capture your plate number when you enter the restricted traffic areas!
(Photo: Smeet Chowdhury)
Nagarjun Bollam writes some disabled people ride on trains in India at steep discounts. Because of the incentive structure, non-disabled people hire them to travel:
Disabled people get 50-75% concession on train ticket from Indian Railways. Additionally, they can take one person as escort who will be entitled to the same amount of concession.
Some disabled people earn their living with this scheme. Their only job is travelling between different cities and taking Strangers (who actually want to go to some city) as escorts. These strangers pay 75% of the fare to the disabled people. Thus Stranger saves money, Disabled person earns profit.
There's a somewhat similar system at work at Disney World.
xuankun says that in China, some businesses hire a white man to just stand around:
China: white guy to stand there and make the company look more international.
ishallsaythisonce tells us about people who work funerals as mourners:
Southern Africa: Professional mourners. They go to funerals of people they don't even know. Their job is to cry... no, wail.
What culture-specific jobs do you know about?
-via Marginal Revolution