Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal reveals twist behind Rs 200000 job fee, closes application window

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal stirred controversy over his unconventional approach to hiring the Chief of Staff. He had shared that the selected candidate would not receive a salary for the first year but instead would have to pay Rs 20 00000 to Zomato as a donation to its Feeding India initiative. In his latest post, he revealed that the unique condition was applied as a filter to reach the best candidates for the role. 

The post informed that his company received 18000 applications, of which they would reject applications of those who have the money or talked about the money. "This wasn't just another hiring post. As some people pointed out, the "you have to pay us 20 lacs" was merely a filter, to find people who had the power to appreciate the opportunity of a fast-track career, without getting bogged down by the constraints in front of them,” read a part of his latest tweet on X(formerly known as Twitter). Further, he added that the company is going to find “genuine intent and learning mindset from the sea of applications we have received.”

 November 21, 2024

In the previous post, Goyal listed the kinds of candidates who applied for the position. “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,” he wrote.

 November 21, 2024

Deepinder’s Rs 20 lakh job caveat received criticism, with people slamming him for having unreal expectations. “You don’t have enough faith in your hiring process so you need 20L ticket as a barrier for improving your efficiency? Poor move,” wrote an X user. Another X commented, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's happening here? You need to pay 20L for charity? How does that work? Make the job as unattractive as you want, but asking someone to pay 20L? So, young people with no money won’t be able to apply, but those whose parents are rich can?“ Deepinder clarified that the selected candidate would be paid the usual salary from the second year. He ensured that this new salary would exceed Rs 50 LPA.