Zomato's Deepinder Goyal gets 10,000+ applications for ‘Chief of Staff’ role with ₹20 lakh fee

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal on Thursday said he has received over 10,000 applications for the position of ‘Chief of Staff’ less than 24 hours after he announced a job vacancy for the role.

The company will close the application for the job posting at 6 pm on Thursday, Goyal said in an update on X.

“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,” Goyal wrote.

On Wednesday, Deepinder Goyal took to X to announce a job vacancy for the Chief of Staff role. In an unusual twist however, the Zomato boss asked prospective candidates to pay ₹20 lakh for the first year, which will 100% be donated to the charity organisation Feeding India.

The company drew backlash for the job posting.

Industrialist Harsh Goenka wrote, “My view: 1) Rs 20L fee excludes talented but underprivileged candidates, 2) Asking to pay for a job feels exploitative, even if positioned as “learning.” 3) Lack of clarity on Year 2 salary, 4) Innovative idea- yes I like it (good PR value too) yet it raises ethical concerns.”

Further, in the second year, the company will contribute ₹50 lakh, which is equivalent to the Chief of Staff’s salary, to a non-profit organisation 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)”.

Goyal claimed that the role would offer 10 times more learning than any two-year degree from a top management school, adding that the job will allow the candidate to work with Goyal himself and “some of the smartest folks” in the consumer tech business.

The Zomato CEO asked candidates to apply for the role for the learning opportunity it presents and not for a fancy well-paying job that “will make you look cool in front of yourself or the people you want to impress.”

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".

Listing out the values he is looking for in an aspirant, Goyal said that the person should be hungry, have “a lot of” common sense, empathy, and shouldn’t have a ton of experience, in other words, the candidate should not have any conditioning or baggage.

Goyal 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".