Deepinder Goyal has been searching for a chief of staff for nearly 2 years, internet unsurprised

The CEO of Zomato has been looking for a chief of staff for nearly two years, and his first post for the vacancy had met with similar backlash.

Deepinder Goyal is in the eye of a social media storm after posting a controversial job opening. The CEO of Zomato advertised for a chief of staff role but added an unexpected caveat - the selected candidate would have to pay for the privilege to work at Zomato. And not a small amount either - he or she would have to shell out ₹20 lakh as a donation to Feeding India and work without a salary for the first year.

Deepinder Goyal has been looking for a chief of staff for nearly two years

With such terms and conditions attached to the role, it was unsurprising to see Goyal become the target of mockery on social media. Many slammed the CEO of Zomato for alienating candidates who could not afford to work without a salary or pay ₹20 lakh - in short, for reducing the pool of job-seekers to those who are already financially stable or rely on their parents for money. Still others took issue with the very nature of the job posting, saying companies had no right to expect free labour.

Not his first rodeo

This, however, is not the first time that Deepinder Goyal has faced trolling for a job posting. In fact, the CEO of Zomato has been looking for a chief of staff for nearly two years, and his first post for the vacancy had met with similar backlash.

Goyal had also advertised for the chief of staff role in January 2023, referring to the position as “Mini CEO for the company.”

At that time, he had been slammed for saying the role would require the employee to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Goyal had warned that the chief of staff could not expect any work-life balance.

The older job listing resurfaced online yesterday after Goyal made his controversial demand for a ₹20 lakh donation.

“Just found out that this champ has been trying to hire someone for this role since like Jan, 2023 & was called out for his ~cool edgelord~ job listing then, too. How much management can you possibly learn from a boss who's been trying to fill the same vacancy for two years lol,” X user Sahil Rizwan wrote.

Several other X users said they were unsurprised to learn that the role had gone unfilled for nearly two years.

“Speaks volumes about the company and the entrepreneur,” another noted.

Many X users also called it a publicity stunt to gain eyeballs.