‘We have received more than 18,000 applications.’
Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal has ignited a storm of controversy and memes on social media after making a mind-boggling job hiring post.
Goyal took to X to announce that he was hiring a “Chief of Staff”. He promised that the selected would receive “10X more learnings than a two-year degree from a top management school” while working with him along with “some of the smartest folks in consumer tech”.
However, there was an unexpected twist. The job hiring post stated that candidates expected to pay Rs. 20 lakh to work for a year, while receiving no salary at all.
Update: I am looking for a chief of staff for myself. pic.twitter.com/R4XPp3CefJ
— Deepinder Goyal (@deepigoyal) November 20, 2024
CEO’s Post Sparks Backlash and Memefest:
Goyal’s post quickly went viral with over 14 million views till date, and soon provoked a flood of criticism from all sectors of social media. This included industry leaders like industrialist and Chairperson of the RPG Group Harsh Goenka, who termed it “potentially exploitative.”
Many expressed their thoughts through memes that poked fun of the Zomato CEO’s bewildering offer. Take a look at some of them below:
zomato jobs in 2030 pic.twitter.com/T9xkahlNK9
— Mr. Credible 💳 (@mistercredible) November 20, 2024
Chief of Staff of Zomato : Give my salary !!
Deepinder Goyal : pic.twitter.com/Cs2HBmnuzk
— UmdarTamker (@UmdarTamker) November 20, 2024
i was the chief of staff who got fired after the first year. you will be my replacement. my first task was to redesign the zomato logo – i actually really think i did a great job, ngl
pro tip: don’t order from swiggy when the ceo sits in front of your desk https://t.co/lRmVSM1wcL pic.twitter.com/3TWvP51xNP
— keshav (@keshavchan) November 20, 2024
Deepinder Goyal and Narayan Murthy: pic.twitter.com/w3dtWsVWX9
— 🇮🇳 رومانا (@RomanaRaza) November 21, 2024
Deepinder Goyal, the CEO of Zomato to every potential Chief of Staff- pic.twitter.com/smrSnll1Bm
— princi🐙 (@princiyacrasta) November 20, 2024
The chief of staff going to collect his salary in his first year https://t.co/39RkfHARwk pic.twitter.com/Nt8VrwxQ8O
— Hitesh. 🦉 (@RiceQub) November 20, 2024
Anupam Mittal Reacts
Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal has chimed in with a humorous response that takes a light-hearted dig at Deepinder Goyal’s unexpected job offer.
Taking to LinkedIn, he shared a playful post that invited candidates unable to afford the Rs. 20 lakh to apply for his own “Chief of What?” role. He joked that the job would involve figuring out the responsibilities as its first assignment.
Take a look at the post below:
End of the Saga: Goyal Backtracks on his offer
In a recent post titled “Update 3”, Zomato’s CEO took to X once again to backtrack on his original offer and clarify the situation.
He revealed that his demand for a ₹20 lakhs payment was “merely a filter to identify people who had the ability to appreciate the opportunity of a fast-track career without being bogged down by the constraints before them.”
More importantly, he revealed that the Rs 20 lakh fee was never meant to be collected. He shared a screenshot of his conversation with X user Arnav Gupta, in which he wrote: “Between you and me, we will not eventually ask for ₹20 lakhs and will pay the right person anyway.”
“We have closed applications for my Chief of Staff role. We have received more than 18,000 applications,” he concluded.
Response to this new revelation has been mixed, with some expressing relief that Goyal did not genuinely follow through with his unexpected hiring offer. However, others suggested that he find a better PR team for himself and questioned the potential decline of trust towards Zomato as a response to his actions. Some even speculated that this move might be a distraction from Zomato’s ongoing drug case in Chandigarh.
