Zomato founder and chief executive officer Deepinder Goyal recently shared on social media that he is on the lookout for a Chief of Staff position. The unconventional job posting made by him has stirred controversy. The job description challenges the conventional norms of recruitment, it states that the candidate will not be paid a salary for the first year but will instead have to donate Rs 20 lakhs to charity.
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal announces ‘chief of staff’ position with a ₹20 lakh fee and no salary for the first year
On his X handle, Goyal posted a vacancy for a Chief of Staff position. The conditions seemed unusual as he wrote there would be no salary for the first year and a Rs 20 lakh payment is to be made to Zomato’s non-profit initiative, Feeding India. Zomato also promised to donate Rs 50 lakh to a charity chosen by the successful candidate.
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In the notice, Goyal also specified that the chief of staff is required for the Gurugram headquarters. It was followed by other details of the job description including the application procedure. Posting the job details, Goyal wrote,
Updated: I am looking for a chief of staff for myself
Update: I am looking for a chief of staff for myself. pic.twitter.com/R4XPp3CefJ
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 20, 2024
Goyal’s job criteria read
Salary details
* There is no salary for this role for the first year. You will have to, in fact, pay ₹20 lacs for this opportunity. 100% of this “fee” will be paid in the form of a donation directly to Feeding India (if you are offered the role, and you accept it).
* At our end, we want to demonstrate that we are not trying to save money here – we will contribute ₹50 lacs (equivalent to a Chief of Staff salary) to a charity of your choice.
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* Second year onwards, we will start paying you the usual salary (definitely more than 50 lacs, but something we will only talk about at the start of Year 2).
There was also a part where it was mentioned why would the candidate pay for this role. It said,
We believe that people who apply for this role should do it for the learning opportunity it presents, rather than for a fancy well paying job which will make you look cool in front of yourself, or the people you want to impress.
Put differently, think of this as a fast track learning program, for you both personally and professionally – whether or not you succeed at this role. And we want learners for this role, not résumé builders.
The last section mentioned the application procedure
Please email a cover letter (up to 200 words) to me at [email protected]. No résumé attachments required – please say what you have to say within 200 words.
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Here is the unconventional job description
This hiring approach has garnered sharp criticism online. Though it was presented as a unique “learning opportunity”, this raised questions about the ethics of modern hiring practices.
Responding to Goyal’s post, an X user criticized his job offer
The user responded to the Zomato CEO’s post by saying,
They will surely go hungry after the loan for 20L
They will surely go hungry after the loan for 20L
— Shantanu Goel (@shantanugoel) November 20, 2024
Deepinder Goyal responded to the man with a prompt reply
Goyal replied by saying that he would update him about how the procedure went. He used a smile emoji and wrote,
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Will let you know how this goes 🙂
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 20, 2024
The CEO also posted an update that he received over 10,000 applications for the job
Goyal posted an update that over 10k candidates have applied for the job taking into consideration the criteria he has mentioned. He wrote,
Update 2: we have over 10,000 applications, a lot of them well thought through, mixed between –
1. Those who have all the money
2. Those who have some of the money
3. Those who say they don’t have the money
4. Those who really don’t have the money
He also mentioned that the application window will be closed soon,
We will be closing the application inbox by 6pm IST today.
Stay tuned for Update 3.
Update 2: we have over 10,000 applications, a lot of them well thought through, mixed between –
1. Those who have all the money
2. Those who have some of the money
3. Those who say they don’t have the money
4. Those who really don’t have the moneyWe will be closing the… https://t.co/8a6XhgeOGk
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 21, 2024
Here is how other netizens reacted to Goyal’s job offer,
As if exploring the Gig economy workers wasn’t euf , now kick the middle class parent cause food delivery company with inflated pricing wants a chief of staff..
Just say you want to test 100people in 1 year without paying
— Abhishek 🙂 (@KingELF2022) November 20, 2024
They will surely go hungry after the loan for 20L
— Shantanu Goel (@shantanugoel) November 20, 2024
Had check for a moment if it’s April 1 😂
I’m OK with this being an unpaid 1 yr internship if you honestly call it that.
Paying ₹20L upfront and leaving compensation from year 2 vague is unfair to say the least.
You are looking at someone who has ₹20L to donate and have…
— Anand Sankar (@kalapian_) November 20, 2024
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> Charity of “your choice”
Can I choose a friend’s NGO?— Wojak (@wojakcodes) November 20, 2024
Asking 20L from little experience adds an artificial selection for rich kids with daddys money.
This means the candidate pool is of folks with high risk taking capacity but also possible that the candidate pool is of people quite distant from ‘India’
Interesting.
— Aman (@AmanHasNoName_2) November 20, 2024
Paying ₹20 lakhs for a ‘Chief of Staff’ role? This is pure exploitation and legally questionable.
Mr. Goyal, donations get tax exemptions, but employment payments don’t.@Zomato, as a publicly traded company, such moves risk legal trouble and reputational damage.
You’re no…
— Ankush (@IamKatochA) November 21, 2024
More than 10k applications in less than 24 hours agreeing for a role where Rs 20L to be paid by the selected candidate and no salary for the 1st year.
Let’s see who is the lucky candidate offered for the job.
— Manas Muduli (@manas_muduli) November 21, 2024
What are your thoughts about the same? Let us know in the comments.
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