COLUMBUS, Ohio (WBNS) — A restaurant in Ohio was having some trouble finding reliable employees, so they began using some humor to help recruit "non-stupid people."
The phone at Santino's pizza is usually ringing off the hook.
Manager Heather Stockton said it's all because of a sign that reads "Hiring Now...Non-stupid People."
"It was all supposed to be a joke," Stockton said. "Nothing serious."
Stockton said the sign's been on display for months, but it was a viral social media post this week that took the attention to another level.
"Any publicity is good publicity, bad or not bad," she said. "We're going to have people that love the sign, people that hate it."
So what does the company define as a "non-stupid person?"
"Just reliable, on time, just don't come to work in sandals," she said.
Stockton said the COVID-19 pandemic played a huge role in the quality of applicants.
"Why go to work when they can just sit at home and make a paycheck doing online stuff," Stockton said.
Stockton said the business keeps facing no-shows or employees who don't take the job seriously.
"I had a high school student who thought it was okay to bring a Nerf gun in with another employee here," Stockton said.
But the big question—is the sign helping or hurting business?
"I thought it was funny, I didn't think it was offensive at all and so that made me really curious about this pizza place, so that made me decide to come in and check it out," said customer Paul Robbins.
