Nvidia workers can work 7 days a week until 2am – but few are leaving because of the AI ​​chip giant’s lavish pay: report

Workers at AI chip maker Nvidia are expected to be at their desks seven days a week and often until 2am – but workers don’t want to leave because of the company’s generous pay package, according to a report.

Ten people who either worked at the company or are still employed there described the environment as a pressure cooker in which meetings often devolve into shouting matches, according to Bloomberg News.

A former marketing employee at Nvidia told Bloomberg News that she often attended up to 10 meetings a day — each involving more than 30 people.

The meetings would be characterized by shouting and fighting, but the employees put up with it because of the “golden handcuffs”, according to the former employee.

Nvidia, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of semiconductors used to power artificial intelligence technology, boasts a relatively low attrition rate due to the fact that its employees are given stock grants that typically cover a period of four years.

Since 2019, Nvidia stock is up 3,776% — meaning employees who have worked at the company for the past five years are likely millionaires.

The company has become the dominant chipmaker as demand for its semiconductors has grown in tandem with the rise of artificial intelligence.

According to Bloomberg News, the stock compensation package is a powerful incentive for employees to withstand adversity and stay with the company.

Last year, 5.3% of employees left Nvidia. But after the company’s market capitalization surpassed $1 trillion, the employee attrition rate dropped to just 2.7%.

In the semiconductor industry, the employee turnover rate 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 are instead choosing to work longer because of a higher paycheck. big deal waiting for them when the next stock grant comes out.

The former engineer also said he would often hear the company’s newly minted multimillionaire employees brag about the new vacation homes they were buying.

He told Bloomberg News that it was also routine to see many of them buy tickets to events such as the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals.

Nvidia’s employee parking lot is also full of high-end cars like Porsches, Corvettes and Lamborghinis, according to Bloomberg News.

A real estate agent based in 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, told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in an interview that he pushes employees a lot because “if you want to do extraordinary things, it doesn’t have to be easy.”

The Post has sought comment from Nvidia.