The CEO of a multibillion-dollar company has drawn serious backlash after an online “stunt” where he posted a job ad asking the successful candidate to cough up thousands of dollars.
Applicants were told that the role would provide them with “10x more learnings than a 2-year degree from a top management school” as they would be working with Mr. Goyal himself, along with “some of the smartest folk in consumer tech”.Goyal stated that the role was not “conventional” and didn’t come with the “usual perks” you would expect with this type of job.“There will be no salary for this role for the first year,” the job description states.
To demonstrate that Zomato isn’t just doing this to save money, the company said they would contribute 50 lakh rupees — the equivalent of a Chief of Staff salary – to the charity of the employee’s choosing. Unsurprisingly, the CEO’s post sparked widespread uproar, gaining thousands of comments and being reshared multiple times by stunned professionals.Many people pointed out that the only applicants who would be able to afford this “opportunity” were ones who didn’t need the job in the first place.
He then claimed the requirement for the successful applicant to pay thousands of dollars in a “fee” was “merely a filter to find the 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”. “You might have gotten 18,000 entries but you have lost my respect by being a frivolous founder who is using his social media clout for such stupid PR stunts,” one person said.