Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal sparked a stir online with a job advertisement for a chief of staff role, which required candidates to donate Rs 20 lakh to Feeding India and work for a year without salary. The announcement received widespread backlash, with many criticizing the unconventional demands. Among the reactions, Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal humorously chimed in and shared a playful LinkedIn post inviting candidates who couldn’t afford Rs 20 lakh to apply for their own ‘Chief of What?’ role. He teased that the job would involve figuring out the liability as the first order of business.

The Internet’s reaction

Some of his requirements were to “accept compensation from day 1,” candidates would “describe the role and value,” go through the screening process with the HR team, and carry the title of “Chief-Of-What?” for six months. Mittal’s post received mixed reactions. While some found his approach amusing, others criticized it as attention-seeking and distasteful. One commenter dismissed the post as a poorly executed attempt to gain traction, while others debated whether such a comment was appropriate. One user wrote, “This is going to sting Deepinder so hard,” to which the Shaadi.com founder wrote, “He’s a big boy with a great sense of humor…can handle it.”

Amid the controversy, Goyal clarified that the Rs 20 lakh donation was never meant to be a serious demand but rather a filter to identify highly driven candidates. Despite the backlash, he revealed that the post had already received over 18,000 applications, underscoring the significant interest in the opportunity.

The controversy

On Wednesday, Deepinder Goyal posted a job opening for a “Chief of Staff” on X, which describes the role’s responsibilities and eligibility requirements. He described the ideal candidate as someone driven by “hunger”, “empathy” and “common sense”, without any significant previous experience or qualifications. While the position offered no salary for the first year, Zomato pledged to donate ₹50 lakh to a charity of the candidate’s choice, which is the typical salary for such a role. It was met with huge backlash and many found the post “elitist”.