Dollar Tree 'Help Wanted' Sign Does Not Go Over Well

A Dollar Tree manager whose "help wanted" sign went viral for the wrong reasons is now out of a job. The story is out of Bremen, Indiana, where WNDU reports that an apparently peeved manager posted the following message on his store's front door: "I apologize for us closing AGAIN. My 2 new cashiers quit because I said their boyfriends couldn’t stand here for their entire shift," it begins. Followed by the part that caused the most trouble: "Don't hire Gen Z's. They don’t know what work actually means. NOW HIRING! *Baby Boomers ONLY, thanks!" As BestLife notes, an image of the sign went viral on Reddit and generated a robust discussion.

The problem for the manager is that Dollar Tree's corporate honchos got wind of it and very quickly distanced the company from the hiring stance. "We are aware that an unauthorized sign was posted at our store for a brief period of time," says Randy Guiler, one of chain's VPs. "The handwritten message was absolutely not approved by or condoned by our company." He also confirmed that the unnamed manager is no longer a Dollar Tree employee. For the record, the Pew Research Center defines Gen Z as those born from 1997 to 2012, per WDBJ7. (An earlier version of this story suggested the sign could run afoul of federal hiring rules; federal law prohibits age discrimination of those 40 and older.)