(Photo : https://www.zomato.com/)

• Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal's job posting requiring a ₹20 lakh donation for a Chief of Staff position has sparked controversy.
• Critics argue that this condition excludes many potential candidates who can't afford such a sum.
• The incident has drawn comparisons to unpaid internships and raised concerns about the future of jobs and job training.
• The controversy highlights the need for a more inclusive approach to employment opportunities.

In a recent development that has sparked a wave of controversy, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal has announced a unique job posting for a Chief of Staff position. The role, as advertised, requires the successful candidate to make a donation of ₹20 lakh for the opportunity to work under Goyal, with no salary offered for the first year.

Goyal, 41, shared the job posting on his social media account, stating, "There is no salary for this role for the first year. You will have to, in fact, pay ₹20 lacs for this opportunity." The Zomato founder and CEO further explained that the entire amount of this 'fee' would be donated directly to Feeding India, Zomato's non-profit arm.

Zomato shares, meanwhile, plunged by 1.8% on Thursday reaching Rs. 266.43, down 1.82 per cent as of 11:50 am. 

Public Outrage and Social Media Backlash

The unusual job posting did not sit well with social media users. Many expressed their shock at the CEO of one of India's leading startups expecting a job-seeker to pay ₹20 lakh for the privilege of working under him. Critics pointed out that this condition automatically excluded millions of Indians who did not have such a large sum of money readily available.

Some critics went as far as to label the job posting as an 'unpaid internship' and expressed concerns that such roles could become the norm. The post became a target of mockery, with one user named Abhishek commenting, As if exploiting the gig economy workers wasn't enough, now kick the middle class parent cause food delivery company with inflated pricing wants a chief of staff.

Another user expressed concerns about the potential loss for the candidate if they were found unsuitable for the role after a few months. They would lose a significant amount of money and gain nothing but a bitter experience. A user named Aman pointed out that Goyal's ₹20 lakh condition had already alienated a promising pool of talent. He wrote, "Asking 20L from little experience adds an artificial selection for rich kids with daddy's money. This means the candidate pool is of folks with high risk-taking capacity but also possible that the candidate pool is of people quite distant from 'India'."

The Future of Jobs and Digital Life

The job posting also drew comparisons to unpaid internships offered by the United Nations. Mohak Mangal opined, "Major L. By offering zero salary, you have already filtered for privilege. Just like the UN unpaid internships. Any person who has bills to pay for family cannot apply for this post." This incident brings to light the ongoing debate about the future of jobs and job training. With the rise of automation, robotics, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, there is growing anxiety about the displacement of jobs.

A 2017 report by Pew Research Center and Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center found that experts were evenly split on whether AI and robotics would create more jobs than they would destroy.

The Zomato incident also highlights the negatives of digital life, as pointed out by Carolyn Heinrich, professor of public policy, education, and economics at Vanderbilt University. She expressed concerns about the increasing reliance on digital tools for work and communication, leading to physical health issues and social anxiety.