Former Zomato engineer defends CEO Deepinder Goyal on controversial Chief of Staff job posting

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal recently faced backlash after posting a controversial job listing for the position of Chief of Staff at the food delivery giant. The catch? The selected candidate would not receive a salary for the first year but would instead be required to donate ₹20 lakh to Feeding India, Zomato’s non-profit arm.

Social media erupted in criticism, accusing Goyal of exploiting job seekers. Many pointed out that the ₹20 lakh condition excluded talented candidates who couldn’t afford the hefty fee. Others called it a thinly veiled “paid internship,” inappropriate for a role of such stature.

Despite the uproar, one former Zomato employee, Arnav Gupta, has spoken in support of Goyal. Gupta, who served as Zomato’s Engineering Head of Consumer App until 2024, shared his perspective on the value of the opportunity.

In response to Goyal’s post on X (formerly Twitter), Gupta wrote, “If you're looking for a career in Management Consulting or Strategy, this is worth waaaay more than ₹20L!” He argued that the learning potential under Goyal’s mentorship surpassed the cost of any MBA programme in India, many of which charge similar fees.

Goyal’s job post emphasized that the ideal candidate should be “down to earth” and “entitled to zero.” He claimed the experience would provide “10x more learnings than a two-year degree from a top management school.”

The controversy hasn’t deterred applicants. By Thursday, Goyal revealed over 10,000 people had applied. He categorized them into four groups: those who genuinely lacked funds, those falsely claiming financial hardship, those with partial funds, and those who could pay in full.

Is there more than what meets the eye?

The CEO post was announced after a recent discovery on Zomato left many puzzled, as mysterious ‘one dish’ restaurants appeared on the platform. These eateries, located in Chandigarh, specifically in Nayagaon area, were offering only a single dish at extremely high prices. Some of these restaurants had no reviews, while others were filled with negative feedback. The names of the dishes are also raising eyebrows, as they’re selling items like “Kiwi Delight Mojito, Merry Berry, Green Apple Soda and Citrus Punch”. This sparked a lot of curiosity, and there was talk that these restaurants could be involved in illegal activities like drug peddling, money laundering, and other suspicious practices.

An individual tagging food delivery giant’s CEO Deepinder Goyal and Chandigarh police wrote, “What’s going on with Zomato in Chandigarh? Fake ‘restaurants’ offering just ONE dish at absurd prices, with non-existent addresses. Something really shady is cooking on Zomato." He further asked, “Anyone else noticed this?"

As users continued to share screenshots and anecdotes highlighting these suspicious eateries, Goyal acknowledged that Zomato received numerous complaints.