Charging Rs 20 lakh for job was just a filter, not the plan: Zomato MD & CEO

New Delhi: A day after the unusual job vacancy posting for his Chief of Staff, online food delivery platform Zomato Managing Director and CEO Deepinder Goyal on Thursday said charging people Rs 20 lakh was never part of the plan and he hopes that "pay the company to get a job does not become the norm in this world".

In a post on X, Goyal said more than 18,000 people applied for the post, while announcing closure of applications.

"This wasn't just another hiring post. As some people pointed out, the 'you have to pay us 20 lacs (sic) 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 constraints in front of them," Goyal wrote.

He further said, "We are going to reject most of the applications, who have money, or even talked about the money. We are going to find genuine intent and a learning mindset from the sea of applications we have received."

Goyal said charging people Rs 20 lakh "was never part of the plan", while sharing a screenshot of a private conversation between him and a user on X, who had defended the idea.

In the conversation, Goyal said "...we will not eventually ask for 20 lacs (sic), and pay the right person anyway".

Supporting the unusual recruitment post, he said, "something like this can only be pulled off once in the world. Now that everyone knows the real intent behind this, we won't be able to get the desired outcomes if we do it again."

In his post, Goyal further said, "And I really hope that "pay the company to get a job" doesn't become a norm in this world -- that's not cool." Asserting that "money is an essential thing to keep people's lives running", Goyal said, "and I believe in paying more than market rate, so that money doesn't come in the way of great work." He said the company will go through the applications over the next week and reach out to people who "we think are the right fit for an organisation".

"We want to build a learning organisation and we now know thousands of people who exhibit their hunger for learning and constant improvement, over short term constraints and their current reality," he said.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Goyal said he was looking for a "Chief of Staff" for himself with the job description reading "anything and everything to build the future of Zomato (including Blinkit, District, Hyperpure and Feeding India).

He claimed that the role would offer "10x more learnings than a 2-year degree from a top management school, working with me and some of the smartest folks in consumer tech".

However, he added, "This role is not a conventional role with the usual perks that such jobs come with".

On the salary details, Goyal wrote, "There is no salary for this role for the first year. You will have to, in fact pay Rs 20 lakh for this opportunity. 100 per cent of this 'fee' will be paid in the form of donation directly to Feeding India (if you are offered the role, and you accept it)." He further said, "At our end, we want to demonstrate that we are not trying to save money here -- we will contribute Rs 50 lakh (equivalent to a Chief of Staff salary) to a charity of your choice."

Second year onwards, Goyal said, "We will start paying you the usual salary (definitely more than Rs 50 lakh) but something we will only talk about at the start of Year 2)." Goyal had asked aspirants to apply for the role only for the "learning opportunity it presents, rather than for a fancy well paying job which will make you look cool in front of yourself or the people you want to impress".