- Toronto pharmacy faces backlash after posting ‘volunteer’ job ad
- Shoppers Drug Mart removed the post and claims it was made in error
A Canadian store has sparked backlash online after posting a “volunteer” job advertisement.
A Shoppers Drug Mart pharmacy in downtown Toronto posted the unpaid position on job site LinkedIn on Thursday. CBC News reported.
“Your role as a volunteer is crucial to ensuring our customers have a positive and smooth shopping experience,” the ad said.
The unpaid role would require “helping customers, restocking shelves and organizing inventory.”
Social media users mocked the announcement, with one posting: “Damn, I can’t get over an opportunity like that.” It’s a shame I have to eat,” on Twitter with a screenshot of the list.
Shoppers Drug Mart removed the post and claims it was made in error
‘Hiring a ‘voluntary’ employee. You just can’t make this stuff up. But for everyone who wants to work for free, unfortunately the position is closed,” another wrote on the site.
‘Sorry, am I hallucinating or does this LinkedIn post for Shoppers Drug Mart actually say ‘volunteer’? This would be the same Weston-owned company that just posted $537 million in profits for the quarter, right? added a third.
The job was advertised by Emil Harba, the pharmacist who owns Shoppers Drug Mart located at King and Peter in Toronto.
Shoppers Drug Mart has since claimed that it was put online by mistake.
The “job posting was a mistake,” the company said in a statement to CBC, explaining that having volunteers in stores is against its corporate policy.
‘It was closed immediately upon publication and is being deleted. Shoppers Drug Mart does not have volunteers in stores and that is not within our policy,” said Dave Bauer, the company’s director of media relations.
However, Harba told the outlet that the position was posted intentionally but that he was just “trying to help people looking for Canadian experience.”
“The post was not out of bad intentions, it was out of good intentions,” he told the publication.
Harba explained that he often receives messages from people who want to gain work experience, but once the company told him they wouldn’t allow it, he immediately removed the list.
