Deepinder Goyal's Chief of Staff role is 'worth waaaay more than Rs 20 lakh!' Ex-Zomato's top employee tells why

As Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal received criticism on social media platform for asking for job applications for chief of staff role where prospective candidates are requested to pay Rs 20 lakh for the first year, a former employee came to the rescue to defend the CEO.

However, the Zomato CEO later revealed that requirement to pay Rs 20 lakh was just a filter to find candidates who appreciated the opportunity without being weighed down by the constraints.

"And I really hope that "pay the company to get a job" doesn't become a norm in this world- that's not cool. Money is an essential thing to keep people's lives running, and I believe in paying more than market rate, so that money doesn't come in the way of great work", Goyal said on Thursday.

What did former employee say?

As Deepinder Goyal received criticism for asking selected employee to pay Rs 20 lakh without any salary for first year, former employee of Zomato who worked as Engineering Head for Consumer App for about a year said "I know people are commenting various stupid things about "paid internship" Leaving this note here as someone who got the chance to work 1 year with @deepigoyal, if you're looking for a career in Management Consulting / Strategy, this is worth waaaay more than ₹20L!"

What Deepinder Goyal's job post say?

In his post, 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".

However, he added: "This role is not a conventional role with the usual perks that such jobs come with".

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)."

Many social media users have criticised the job posting, calling it exploitative and unfair. Some have questioned the ethics of requiring a fee for a job, especially one that offers no salary for the first year.