New Delhi: In an unusual job vacancy posting for his Chief of Staff, online food delivery platform Zomato Managing Director and CEO Deepinder Goyal on Wednesday asked prospective candidates to pay Rs 20 lakh for the first year, which in turn will be donated to non-profit Feeding India with the company offering to contribute Rs 50 lakh to a charity of the candidate's choice.
In a post on social media platform X, Goyal said he is looking for a "Chief of Staff" for himself with the job description reading "anything and everything to build the future of Zomato (including Blinkit, District, Hyperpure and Feeding India).
He claimed that the role would offer "10x more learnings than a 2-year degree from a top management school, working with me and some of the smartest folks in consumer tech".
Update: I am looking for a chief of staff for myself. pic.twitter.com/R4XPp3CefJ
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 20, 2024
However, he added: "This role is not a conventional role with the usual perks that such jobs come with".
On the salary details, Goyal wrote, "There is no salary for this role for the first year. You will have to, in fact pay Rs 20 lakh for this opportunity. 100 per cent of this 'fee' will be paid in the form of donation directly to Feeding India (if you are offered the role, and you accept it)."
He further said, "At our end, we want to demonstrate that we are not trying to save money here -- we will contribute Rs 50 lakh (equivalent to a Chief of Staff salary) to a charity of your choice."
Second year onwards, Goyal said, "We will start paying you the usual salary (definitely more than Rs 50 lakh) but something we will only talk about at the start of Year 2)."
Goyal asked aspirants to apply for the role only 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, he added, "Think of this as a learning programme, for you both personally and professionally -- whether or not you succeed at this role. And we want learners for this role, not resume builders".
Describing what he is looking in a candidate for the role, Goyal said the person should be "hungry, has a lot of common sense, empathy, and not a lot of experience (and therefore no conditioning/baggage)."
He further said he is looking for a person who "is down to earth and has zero entitlement; wants to do the right thing even if it comes at the cost of displeasing others; has Grade A communication skills; and most importantly, has a learning mindset".
There were multiple reactions after the post by Goyal. A user Venkatesh Gupta posted on X, "Great deal. Pay 20 lakhs here than enrolling yourself at Ashoka University".
Another user Arnav Gupta wrote, "The real altMBA has landed. 20L fees. 1-year program Concurrent 1-year internship at Zomato CEO's office Guaranteed placement at 1cr job as CoS at Zomato Only 1 seat. Other large company founders/CEOs should create a similar program for their staff offices like this."
Goyal clarified to other users what he meant by the vacancy.
A user Shantanu Goel posted on X, "They will surely go hungry after the loan for 20L". To it, Goyal responded by saying, "Will let you know how this goes :)"
Another user Abhishek wrote, "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 (sic)."
Goyal also responded to Abhishek saying, "No, we just want one person who gets the point. Not 100."
Another user Arindam Paul wondered on X, "All that is fine, but will banks give a 20 lakh education loan for a zomato offer letter?"
