Story Content

Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal, who is now the leader of the 1730 crore-valued company Temple, sparked a raging online and industry controversy by stating a hugely controversial selection requirement, namely that only engineers with low body fat were going to receive an invitation.

Making a candid, and later, interview, and following up on an X thread, Goyal justified his reasoning: high-performance teams need extreme discipline. One of the most vivid signs of discipline, consistency, and long-term health is the body fat percentage. We are constructing something that requires optimum mental and physical acuity 24 hours a day. Can you not manage your body, and now you want to manage a complex code and product results?

He supposedly established a limit (percentage was not mentioned) and explained that the policy should be implemented in technical interviews and final selection. Goyal highlighted that the rule is not a case of looks but rather a case of disciplined and metabolic health that is quantifiable, arguing that research indicates that the slimmer the body structure, the more the body is focused with energy and resilience to face any form of pressure.

The message already broke the views:

• Fans (primarily startup founders and workout lovers) hailed the honesty of radicalness and noted that similar filters already existed in the elite crews (such as special forces or professional sports teams). They claimed that it is no different than making people work long hours or have a high IQ.
• It was condemned by critics (including HR, diversity activists, and an enormous number of engineers) as discriminatory, ableist, and scientifically unsound. Fat in the body has genetics, hormones, medical reasons (PCOS, thyroid problems), medications, and socio-economic reasons, rather than discipline. There are natural differences in percentages of body fat of women and some ethnic groups, which brings about indirect discrimination.

Legal scholars indicated that this practice could lead to the breach of equality laws and guidelines of POSH in India in case the policy is applied strictly. A number of women in tech told of how such requirements would weed out competent postulants with hormonal or health issues.

Goyal clarified later on that X: it is not an overall ban. Exceptions exist. However, it is time to give up on the belief that body composition does not count in the best performance. It is a long-term investment.

Temple, which has raised 491 crore recently, has not stated a written policy. This has dominated the tech Twitter, LinkedIn, and Reddit feeds and has trended in India with the hashtags #TempleBodyFat and #DeepinderGoyal.

It will depend on whether this will turn out to be a daring point of distinction or an expensive PR scandal, but one thing is obvious: Deepinder Goyal has been shown to not hold back in making a point.