Nvidia (NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang runs a tight ship at his trillion-dollar tech company, and the whole process sometimes involves a little bit of pain, according to the CEO.
In a recently resurfaced interview with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, Haung claims that he finds value in torturing his employees instead of firing them.
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“People know that I’d rather torture them into greatness,” said Huang. “I’d rather torture you into greatness because I believe in you. And I think coaches that really believe in their team torture them into greatness.”
He also claimed in the interview that he works seven days a week, citing that he has a great work-life balance.
“I work from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed, and I work seven days a week,” said Huang. “When I’m not working, I’m thinking about working.”
His comments, which were made in May, came right before a recent report from Bloomberg revealed that allegedly, there is tension brewing in the work culture at Nvidia due to expectations to work long hours.
Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., speaks during an event in Taipei, Taiwan, on Sunday, June 2, 2024.
One former Nvidia employee in the report claimed that he was expected to work seven days a week, often working until 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. Another former employee also stated that she would attend roughly seven to 10 meetings a day, which often involved “fighting and shouting.”
Despite the alleged tension, Nvidia employees are reportedly rewarded handsomely in stock grants as the company’s stock has skyrocketed over the past few years. Nvidia’s stock is currently selling for roughly $102 per share, which is about a 2,100% increase from what it was selling for about five years ago.
Workers are becoming more serious about work-life balance
Work-life balance has grown to become a controversial topic in corporate America since the Covid pandemic, which allowed many people to work from home, granting them more control over how they conduct their work and how they align it with their personal life.
Currently, the attitude surrounding work-life balance appears to be divided amongst employees across the U.S. According to a 2023 survey by The Muse that questioned 1,600 U.S. workers on their opinions on work-life balance, 45% of workers said that “working harder than your colleagues and making personal sacrifices to achieve work goals is necessary to get ahead in your career.”
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Most of the workers in the survey also defined work-life balance as “having the flexibility and autonomy to pivot to personal needs when they arise during a workday or week.”
In addition, 70% of workers said that work-life balance is the most vital feature in a new job, topping “compensation, learning and growth opportunities, office culture, and perks and benefits.”
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