HR departments are thought to be a cornerstone of any major organization, but Telegram, with over 1 billion monthly users, doesn’t have one.
In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov revealed his unconventional approach to building one of the world’s largest messaging platforms. When asked about the size of his HR department, Durov’s response was startling: “Zero.” This admission from the leader of a company serving over a billion users challenges fundamental assumptions about corporate structure and talent acquisition in the tech industry.
Durov explained his rationale with characteristic directness. “Well, you could say it’s me,” he noted about the HR Department, before diving into the mechanics of Telegram’s unique hiring process. The company has essentially “decentralized” traditional HR functions by creating an innovative talent discovery system.
“We started a platform where we host contests for engineers. It’s actually contest.com,” Durov revealed. “We have this separate platform for that, and we select the best of the best engineers as a result of the competitions that we organize. We hold them every month or two months.”
This contest-based approach serves as Telegram’s primary recruitment pipeline. “So after a series of these competitions, we select the best of the best of the best, and they then maybe can join our team, which is just about 30 engineers,” Durov explained. “It’s really compact, it’s super efficient. It’s like a Navy SEAL team.”
The implications of Durov’s HR-free model extend far beyond cost savings. By maintaining a lean team of just 30 engineers to serve over a billion users, Telegram achieves an extraordinary engineer-to-user ratio that would be impossible with traditional corporate structures. This approach eliminates layers of bureaucracy, accelerates decision-making, and ensures that only the most exceptional talent makes it through the rigorous selection process.
Durov’s philosophy reflects a broader trend among tech disruptors who are questioning established corporate norms. Companies like Netflix have famously adopted “keeper test” cultures, while others have experimented with flat organizational structures. However, Telegram’s complete elimination of HR represents perhaps the most radical departure from conventional wisdom. This model works particularly well for a company like Telegram, which operates with a focus on privacy, security, and technical excellence—areas where elite engineering talent is paramount and traditional corporate processes might actually hinder innovation.