Australian telecom apologizes for ‘racist’ job ad

A PR crisis can arise from any kind of communication with the public—including job postings.

Optus, an Australian telecommunications company, is taking fire over a job advertisement that was seeking an “Anglo-Saxon” retail assistant.

CNN Money reported:

The company said it preferred Anglo Saxon candidates who lived close to the store.

“Fantastic opportunity for those seeking a career in retail and sales,” the ad also said.

Optus took down the ad and apologized on Friday after facing a storm of criticism. The company told CNN the ad had been posted on an external jobs site, and was up for roughly eight hours.

“This is an error and completely unacceptable and a clear breach of our advertising standards and our commitment to equal opportunity,” Vaughan Paul, the company’s vice president of human resources, said in a statement.

The ad was placed by a retail location in an affluent area of in Australia’s most-populous city, Sydney. However, the controversy has affected the whole chain, and officials are promising consequences for those involved.