Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang comes out holding chicken during a “chimaek” gathering at the Samsung branch of Kkanbu Chicken in Seoul’s Gangnam district on June 7. Yonhap News
“To Nvidia employees, Jensen Huang is nothing short of a god. Truly, even if CEO Huang headed to the mountains instead of the sea to catch fish, his employees would follow him.”
A university professor who recently interacted with Nvidia employees at a business summit held abroad was greatly surprised by how they regard Jensen Huang. “Employees at Microsoft and Meta gather among themselves to air their grievances about the company and the CEO, but I haven’t seen a single Nvidia employee say anything bad about Jensen Huang,” he said. “Their ‘fandom’ for him is considerable.”
MS, Meta Slash Deeply, While Nvidia Stands Firm
The stark difference in attitudes toward the company and CEO between Nvidia employees and those of other Big Tech firms is largely attributed to “workforce reductions,” according to analysts. Big Tech companies pouring astronomical sums into data centers and other areas to seize dominance in the artificial intelligence (AI) era have recently carried out successive layoffs to cut costs. Meta cut 8,000 jobs, or 10% of its total workforce, citing expanded AI investment, organizational efficiency, reduction of management layers, and resource reallocation. Microsoft cut about 4,800 jobs, or 2.1% of its total, to restructure its organization around AI and cloud and to adjust priorities for some businesses. In addition, Oracle also reduced its workforce by around 10%.
By contrast, far from carrying out large-scale layoffs, Nvidia is actually increasing its workforce. In 1996, in its early startup days, the company faced a crisis over its very survival due to a funding shortage after failing to develop its first product, and it cut its workforce from 100 to about 40. In fact, industry sources explain that the reduction at the time was less a workforce cut than an extreme choice for survival. Nvidia subsequently went all in on developing graphics chips.
‘No Layoffs Ever’ Principle Established in 1996
“I understand that CEO Huang established a principle back in 1996 that ‘we will never carry out workforce reductions,'” an Nvidia official said. “Considering that Nvidia is a cutting-edge technology company, such a principle actually doesn’t make sense.” He added, “Yesterday’s expert may not be today’s expert, and yet the idea is to keep employing that person.”
In fact, Nvidia has rarely carried out large-scale workforce reductions since then. In terms of scale, the only cut that could be considered large came during the global financial crisis in 2008. At that time, the company cut several hundred jobs, or 6.5% of its total workforce. An industry source said, “The last meaningful-level reduction was in 2008,” adding, “There may have been small-scale reorganizations since then, but no large-scale layoffs.” He continued, “Of course, it’s also true that as the graphics processing unit (GPU) and AI businesses grew, conditions became such that the company didn’t need to cut jobs.”
Big Tech Restricts Token Use, but Nvidia ‘Encourages’ It
A better working environment compared with other Big Tech firms is another factor solidifying Jensen Huang’s standing. Microsoft, Meta, and others are working to cut AI usage costs (token costs). In fact, Meta recently stated its position that it will build a system to systematically manage AI token usage by 2027. Meta estimates that its internal AI usage costs this year will reach several billion dollars.
By contrast, at Nvidia, the atmosphere is one of actively encouraging usage, with CEO Huang himself stepping forward. In a recent interview, Jensen Huang made remarks to the effect that “an engineer earning around $500,000 a year should use at least $250,000 worth of tokens annually to boost productivity.” An industry source noted, “For heavy users, token costs can actually exceed their salary. From a company’s standpoint, it inevitably becomes a concern,” pointing out, “That’s why Nvidia’s encouragement of token use is unusual.”
Many Employees Become Multimillionaires Through Stock
The steep rise in the company’s stock value recently has also earned high marks from employees. Nvidia is well known for offering competitive stock compensation (RSU, Restricted Stock Units) compared with other companies. From new hires to senior engineers, it is common to receive RSUs in addition to base pay.
There are exceptions depending on each country’s regulations, but Nvidia makes broad use of stock in employee compensation. RSUs typically vest over four years (staggered vesting). In other words, employees do not receive all the stock granted upon joining at once, but rather receive it sequentially after working for a certain period. The company also operates an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). Under this program, employees can buy company stock at a discounted price with a certain percentage of their salary.
An industry source said, “An Nvidia employee I know well is a mid-level engineer, but the value of his holdings has reached several million dollars because Nvidia’s stock has risen sharply in recent years,” adding, “As someone who has to make a living, even if I were an Nvidia employee, I couldn’t help but like CEO Huang. That’s why employees don’t badmouth Jensen Huang even in gossip.”