What is it like to work at Nvidia, he said 3 trillion dollars AI chip maker with one work culture with history over 30 years in the making?
Longtime CEO Jensen Huang said in an interview this year that he rarely takes layoffs and instead prefers to “torture employees into greatness.” Apparently, he may not have been kidding.
Being the brains behind the AI chip behind ChatGPT and other popular forms of AI has seen Nvidia – and its wearable employees – benefit financially from the AI boom. or June survey with over 3,000 Nvidia employees (from about 30 thousand) showed that 76% were millionaires and one in three had a net worth of more than $20 million due to company growth. As of October 2022, Nvidia stock has jumped over 1000%.
However, a Bloomberg report on Monday found that while Nvidia's boom may have created millionaires, its work culture and expectations for those employees remain the same: it's a “pressure cooker.”
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Ten current and former Nvidia employees who spoke to Bloomberg detailed working long hours, yelling and arguing in meetings and competing for the attention of a supervisor who may have more than 100 other direct reports.
A former tech support employee of the enterprise claimed that he worked every day, including weekends, until 1 am or 2 am, and that his fellow engineers worked longer hours. Other employees claimed to have at least seven meetings a day.
Employees who were working less than the norm were called into company-wide meetings. In December, Huang faced complaints from staff about their “semi-retired” peers.. He responded by asking each employee to become the CEO of their time.
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang. Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
However, despite reports of a stressful work environment, Nvidia has had no problem retaining employees. Company sustainability report for fiscal year 2024 details that overall turnover was 2.7% compared to the industry average of 17.7%.
Nvidia's low turnover rate can be attributed to the way it gives employees access to stock grants. The shares vest over four years, so an employee gradually gains ownership of the award. So it is in the best interest of the employee to stay with the company to maximize the benefits.
Nvidia is also a famously “flat” organization, with minimal hierarchy, which could make the company an attractive choice. Huang has 60 direct reports.