Youngsters waiting to be interviewed at an Aberdeen supermarket were spotted packed into the café area.
Images from a reader were sent into the Press and Journal which showed young people sitting together at tables in the Garthdee Sainsbury’s restaurant section, not adhering to the social distancing measures put in place by the government.
They could be seen filling out paperwork and the concerned onlooker, a woman who asked to remain anonymous, said: “They were interviewing for jobs and the cafe area was packed.
“I asked to see a manager to complain about the clear disregard for social distancing measures and was told ‘he’s in there’.
“It was mostly teenagers, from what I saw. What are their parents thinking? Not to mention the managers at the store?”
It comes after supermarket chains such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda, Aldi, Lidl and Co-Op launched a recruitment drive to meet surging demand during the coronavirus outbreak.
A spokesman for Sainsbury’s said: “We are working hard to adhere to all government guidelines on social distancing and introducing a range of measures to keep our colleagues and customers safe.
“Applicants at the store were asked to sit a table apart and we limited the number of people allowed into the café at any one time.”
The stores have since introduced precautions such as limiting the number of customers in shops at a time and queuing systems outside stores.
Staff will also be reminding shoppers to keep a safe distance from other customers and from workers.
Customers buying petrol will be asked to pay at the pump where they can, while safety screens have been introduced at every manned checkout and chip and pin machines, baskets and trolleys are being regularly sanitised.