Graphics chipmaker Nvidia, headquartered in California, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing enterprises in the technology sector. It is currently led by billionaire co-founder and CEO Jensen Huang, who also overtook Mukesh Ambani in Forbes' real-time billionaire list.
Nvidia not only controls the AI chip market but has also produced a new generation of millionaires from its employees. However, this financial success comes at a significant cost -- a stressful and tiring workplace that does not allow the employee to have a good time even if he or she has been promoted and earns more money.
Ex-employees have said that working at Nvidia is like being in a 'pressure cooker'. An ex-technical support worker, who was employed by the firm to serve the enterprise clients, said that he was required to work seven days a week and up to 1 am or 2 am without any rest. Such a tight schedule is not untypical; most workers, especially those in engineering companies, work under the same pressure. The work culture is competitive, pressurized and fast-paced because of which employees are experiencing burnout and physical and emotional fatigue.
Disruptions are common at Nvidia, and meetings can turn into shouting matches and even fights. A former marketing executive, who worked at the company until 2022, said she had 7-10 meetings a day with more than 30 participants, during which people screamed and shouted.
However, the employees endure such a toxic environment because of the attractive stock options and grants, which are commonly referred to as ‘golden handcuffs'. Consequently, employees cannot quit their jobs easily even when they are subjected to a gruelling work culture.
Nvidia’s turnover rate is much lower than that of the industry average for semiconductors. In the financial year 2024, Nvidia’s turnover was at 2.7% while the industry average for this parameter is a staggering 17.7%.
The above low turnover rate is however attributed to the stock grants offered to employees, which are exercised over four years. Such financial incentives help the employees remain loyal to the company despite the harsh working environment that they are subjected to.
Nvidia offers its employees good financial incentives. Nvidia’s shares have risen 3,776% since 2019, making most of the employees of the company millionaires. It is common to hear employees discussing their recent acquisition of a Mercedes-Benz or a beach house, and there are many Porches, Corvettes, Lamborghinis and other fancy cars in the company parking lot.
However, the personal cost is high, employees spend most of their time working to earn money, thus they do not even enjoy the fruits of their new-found wealth.
Nvidia’s success story is a double-edged sword. Despite the fact that the company has established almost a monopoly in sales of AI chips and has made its employees incredibly wealthy, it has done so at a cost of extremely high pressure and hard-working conditions. As of now, the turnover rate is relatively low, and this may mean that many of Nvidia’s employees are willing to work under pressure for the sake of the potential financial rewards.
