Nvidia is being one of the main beneficiaries of the rise of artificial intelligence, although its role is not direct in the development of that technology, but in the computing power that drives it.
That has caused the valuation of the shares to skyrocket and, with it, the fortune of its CEO. However, Jensen Huang is not the only one who has increased his wealth significantly in recent years.
The most veteran employees have also become millionaires and now live in a ‘semi-retirement’ work situation that is generating tensions with employees who have been in the company for less time. The tension is reaching a level that the executive director himself has had to take action on the matter.
Millionaire employees and shareholders. Nvidia’s absolute leadership in the manufacture of specific processors for artificial intelligence has caused Nvidia shares to appreciate by 1,200% in the last five years.
In addition to being employees, some of the company’s most senior workers have also received shares as a bonus or payment of their salary, which is why these employees have become millionaires. This relaxed economic situation has made them take their work much more calmly and live in what is now known as a ‘semi-retirement’ situation, assuming less workload than newly arrived employees.
Nvidia CEO recognizes the problem. During the company’s last internal meeting, Jensen Huang responded to a list of questions that employees had sent him. According to thirteen employees and two human resources professionals consulted by Business Insider, one of the questions was about the drop in performance of these millionaire employees.
In his response, Jensen Huang stated that “[…] working at Nvidia is like a “volunteer sport,” so each employee must act as the “CEO” of their own time. These are decisions that adults must make.” Huang added that each person must be aware of their job and work as hard as they consider necessary, but always from the responsibility of their position.
At Nvidia no one is fired. Nvidia’s labor policy is one of the most flexible and permissive in Silicon Valley. While the main technology companies have laid off a large part of their workforce, the chip manufacturer has maintained its firm commitment to retaining its entire workforce. Nvidia’s last job cut was in 2008.
Nvidia has a work culture that puts the employee at the center. Jensen Huang is its main standard-bearer and has served to ensure that employees who have been with the company for the longest time faithfully support their CEO. The newly arrived employees do not agree with the fact that some of the veterans are neglecting their obligations due to lack of financial motivation. “Jensen is raising an important point, which is ‘do your damn job,’” some employees told Business Insider.
No performance plans. As a general rule, large companies have appraisal and training systems to determine the level of performance of their employees and, in the event of a specific decline, these employees are sent to programs in which that productivity is incentivized.
Nvidia employees told Insider that such plans do not exist at Nvidia, so the company does not evaluate its employees’ performance and rarely corrects them when their productivity drops. This makes new employees feel aggrieved about the work of their veteran colleagues who have become millionaires with the company’s shares. When the company detects a case, they simply change the team employee to see if they improve.
It is not a problem exclusive to Nvidia. Nvidia’s poor performance problem with its millionaire employees is not an isolated case. In recent cases, the number of cases in which the first employees of startups have become millionaires with stock market successes of their companies and work only what is strictly necessary has increased.
In addition, the increase in hiring between 2020 and 2022 meant that many employees who received salaries close to a million dollars did not have assigned tasks.