Nvidia employees can work 7 days a week until 2 a.m. — but few leave because of AI chip giant’s lavish pay: report
By Ariel Zilber,
2024-08-26
Employees at AI chipmaker Nvidia are expected to be at their desks seven days a week and often until 2 a.m. — but workers are loathe to leave due to the company’s generous pay package, according to a report.
Ten people who either worked at the company or are still employed at the firm described the environment as a pressure cooker in which meetings often descend into shouting matches, according to Bloomberg News.
A former marketing employee at Nvidia told Bloomberg News that she would often attend up to 10 meetings per day — each of them involving more than 30 people.
The meetings would be characterized by shouting and fighting, but employees put up with it because of the “golden handcuffs,” according to the ex-staffer.
Current and former employees at Nvidia described a grueling work environment that entails long hours and shouting matches. AP
Nvidia, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of semiconductors used to power artificial intelligence technology, boasts a relatively low worker attrition rate due to the fact that its employees are given stock grants that typically vest over a four-year period.
Since 2019, Nvidia’s stock has surged by 3,776% — meaning that employees who have been working at the company for the past five years are likely to be millionaires.
Nvidia co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang has steered the company during a period where its stock price has soared by more than 3,700%. AP
Last year, 5.3% of employees left Nvidia. But after the company’s market capitalization exceeded $1 trillion, the rate of worker attrition fell to just 2.7%.
In the semiconductor industry, the rate of employee turnover is much higher — 17.7%, according to Nvidia.
A former engineer at Nvidia told Bloomberg News that those who have been with the company for a decade have more than enough money to retire, but instead are choosing to work more because of a larger windfall that awaits them when the next stock grant vests.
The former engineer also said that he would often hear newly minted multimillionaire employees at the company brag about new vacation homes they were buying.
He told Bloomberg News that it was also routine to see many of them snap up tickets for events such as the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals.
Nvidia has become the dominant chip-maker whose products are used to power artificial intelligence products. REUTERS
Nvidia’s employee parking lot is also full of high-end cars such as Porsches, Corvettes and Lamborghinis, according to Bloomberg News.
A real estate agent based in nearly Palo Alto, Calif. told Bloomberg News that he has worked with several Nvidia employees — some of whom make down payments of between 40% and 60% on homes worth millions of dollars.
Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s co-founder and chief executive officer, told CBS’s “60 Minutes” in an interview that he pushes employees hard because “if you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn’t be easy.”
The Post has sought comment from Nvidia.
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I call bullshit... Worked there for 9 years. Yes when "new silicon" showed up from Taiwan 5-7 times a year for bring up everyone worked for as long as it took to get good data. Other than these 3-4 day crunch times it was alot of PTO & work life balance. No one ever yelled, or got heated, everyone worked as a team toward common goals. No big egos, just professionals from every corner of the earth working in harmony. Loved that place, wish I'd have never left.
Concerned Citizen
08-29
I think Nvidia is going to take a massive hit to their stock price. We're are deep into recession despite what the Fed says. Those Nvidia employees who's been there for 5+ years with million dollar stocks better cash out now.
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