Nvidia Takes the 996 Work Schedule for a Spin
Photo by Solen Feyissa @solenfeyissa on Unsplash
Only a select few companies have successfully merged the worlds of hardware and software to become true tech behemoths.
If you think of hardware AND software you might think of Microsoft, and you might think of Apple.
You might ignore Nvidia because you think about their GPU hardware, but that would be like thinking of Apple solely through the prism of the iPhone. Nvidia’s software stack is crucial to building the best AI and accessing its best-in-class hardware.
What is less known is that Nvidia seems to be borrowing a page from China’s 996 work culture. Is their supercharged growth being fueled on the backs of overworked employees? What does this say for all of our work lives in tech?
996? We Should Call 911
996, for the uninitiated few, is a work schedule popularised in China where workers work from 9 in the morning until 9 at night 6 days a week.
Overwork is normalized and the real trick relies on psychological manipulation and the feeling that you “have” to stay to work the horrendous hours (even if you do not have work to do in that period).
This isn’t a “Made in China” model, it’s being shipped from around the world. We have a generation of burnt-out, replaceable cogs in a corporate machine that are making the big-wigs rich.
This is a model that those who benefit from the Nvidia bubble are happy to perpetuate, but the twist here is Nvidia has successfully implemented golden handcuffs.
If You Don’t Like it Why Don’t You Leave?
You’d think that if employees are being overworked, they’d just leave. Now even if you ignore the dire state of the job market at the moment people just aren’t leaving this toxic environment.
It’s not surprising perhaps, but Nvidia employees aren’t letting a little thing like sleep deprivation or not seeing their families get in the way of their stock options.
Nvidia employees know that they will be able to retire as millionaires if only they can hang on long enough. It doesn’t matter that the company is throwing meetings at employees as the CEO likes to torture employees into greatness instead of firing them.
Don’t believe me? Here is the quote:
“And so, it’s tongue in cheek, but people know that I rather torture them into greatness. So, I would rather torture you into greatness because I believe in you. And I think coaches that that really believe in their team, torture them into greatness. And oftentimes, they’re so close, don’t give up. They’re so close to greatness”
They are close to greatness, but far from their stocks vesting. The Nvidia turnover rate is just 2.7 percent whole their stocks vest after four years (do the math).
Nvidia Strike Gold
Nvidia is doing great with the current wave of generative AI.
They’re also doing great with their hardcore 996-inspired model. That’s because it’s great, at least in the short term.
If you allow workers to grind themselves into the ground with the promise of a massive payday (or the old-fashioned “change the world”) the winner is the employer. Nvidia might dress up their terrible work environment with the Californian sunshine, but their environment is something even a Chinese 996 devotee might find excessive.
It’s not surprising that individual developers would work until 2 a.m. and shave years off their lives if the rewards are there. Companies too are motivated by short-term rewards, but they have a duty of care to their employees. The success of a company is the success of their software developers, and this seems to be something that is lost in translation.
The Push Back
If working conditions are not sustainable companies are bound to reach their day of reckoning in the end.
In China, the 996 culture is under pressure from burnt-out workers and enforcement of worker legislation.
Nvidia might soon face a similar pushback where even lavish pay isn’t enough to keep workers chained to their desks. After all, even if golden handcuffs are the norm, is it really worth selling your health for a future that may never come?
Hardcore Isn’t Right
Nvidia’s practices may seem extreme, but they are part of a trend in tech where overwork is normalized and glamorized.
Even places where working practices seemed to support healthy living are joining the work-hard (no time for play) train. Eric Schmidt of Google fame called the work-from-home culture as a limit to innovation (before Google-owned YouTube pulled the talk).
Work until you drop is all fun, until you actually drop. You don’t need to work 60-hour weeks to be a good employee You don’t need to work in the office to create great software.
And no, you don’t need to work to 2 am and have 8 am meetings to create great software. You don’t.
Conclusion
The issues at Nvidia aren’t a company problem. They’re a tech industry problem.
From 996 to Nvidia’s golden handcuffs we are all playing into a broken system that values output over well-being.
You know what, we should balance ambition over sanity. Your codebase doesn’t improve with a newer car, and neither will your code or your life. Reject shady work practices, because the real cost might just be something you can’t afford to pay back.