“Pay ₹20 lakhs to be Chief of Staff”: Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal sparks uproar with job offer

Zomato is one of India’s startup darlings, and as with any organisation that has had to deal with such explosive growth, it is inevitable that the CEO (in this case a certain Deepinder Goyal) will look for a Chief of Staff to streamline things.

And so, when Goyal took to Twitter (or X if you would) to announce that he is on the lookout for a candidate for this post, it caused quite a stir, but for very different reason. You see, the role stipulates that anyone hired will not be paid a salary for the first year. In fact, anyone selected will have to instead pay ₹20 lakhs to land the job.

Also read: Zomato CEO Warns Swiggy’s New millionaires of wealth pitfalls

Zero Salary, full benefits?

The move, which sparked memes, discussions, and some derision on Twitter, is one that Goyal says will pay for itself by way of “10x more learnings than a 2-year degree from a top management school”. Whoever does make the cut will be tasked with building “anything and everything” for the future of Zomato and its other brands like Blinkit, District, Hyperpure, and Feeding India. Goyal freely admitted that the role is not for everyone and it is “not about resume building or financial perks”.

“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”.

An unconventional role

Although it has been established that no salary would be paid out, at least during year one, Zomato and Goyal have committed to donate Rs 50 lakh to a charity of the candidate’s choice. That amount would represent the typical salary for such a candidate, and from the second year onward, the potential Chief of Staff will receive a competitive salary exceeding Rs 50 lakh per year.

If this job offer piques your interest, just send a 200-word cover letter directly to Goyal himself. There’s no need for a resume or CV of any kind, as a candidate will be selected solely on the basis of the cover letter. Goyal has said that the ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong desire to learn and grow, and have hunger, empathy, common sense and strong communication skills.

Final word

While one can understand why such a hiring process would cause uproar, one can understand the rationale for this. For one, it weeds out anyone with a desire to simply pad a resume, or who’s in it for the money. And Goyal has gone on the record previously to state how much he values building a strong company culture.

The other thing to keep in mind is that such as role will likely put you in direct contact with not just Goyal, but other leading lights from across India Inc. And no MBA would get you in the same room as them, let alone the learning that will happen at light speed in such an environment.

While this might seem the unpaid internship to end all unpaid internships, there’s more to this than meets the eye, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out, and if it sets a template for other companie       s to follow.