Leaked Nvidia CEO Memo Assures No Layoffs After Disappointing Q2

Nvidia's Q2 results were far from the shot in the arm the company needed to distance itself from the overall tech industry's slippage (unlike AMD's, which surpassed already positive expectations). With a revenue of $6.7 billion (21% lower than expectations, which placed it at $8.1 billion), Nvidia employees were obviously left wondering how solid their positions were - especially considering macroeconomic factors such as rampant inflation. 

To clear the air, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang penned an internal memo to employees that aimed to put them at rest: there are no planned layoffs. In fact, Nvidia is doubling down on its commitment to the talent that has led it to be one of the industry's juggernauts.

"So what does this mean for us? Do we have a layoff? No. Instead, we have given raises to take care of your families as all of you are facing sky-high inflation," he wrote in the memo shared by Business Insider. Of course, having a plan is a sure way of having to change it, so while there are no planned layoffs at the moment, this doesn't mean there won't be any, or that the strategy won't be revised at a later date.

It should be noted that all big three CPU and GPU companies (AMD, Intel and Nvidia) have tightened their belts somewhat - at least in terms of bringing in new blood. All three companies have markedly decreased available job openings in the span of two months, with Intel and its 68% reduction in open positions leading in that particular metric.

The memo didn't clarify how exactly the raises have materialized, but the wording implies they're actual pay increases - this would also seem to be the best way to counter the increased living expenses Nvidia's employees (and all other citizens) are facing. Of course, there's also the chance that the raises were levied at some of the company's employee benefits, but none of this is confirmed for now.

Huang reiterated that the company's strategy would focus on streamlining existing processes and materials usage instead of cutbacks: "We will exercise extreme collaboration, a hallmark of our culture, finding every opportunity to leverage and reuse. We will find and eliminate all wasted time, process, and material," he wrote. "Take this opportunity to make Nvidia even faster, leaner, and agile."

Interestingly, Huang closed out its email with remarks on the company's strategy for future growth opportunities: artificial intelligence and metaverse-related pursuits. Nvidia already has an incredibly strong position on AI acceleration through its GPUs, the upcoming Grace "Super Chips", and its software expertise brought about by its CUDA software package. 

The metaverse and its requirements for extreme graphical computing power to enable digital experiences also naturally lean into Nvidia's strengths. The metaverse is predicted to see extreme growth during the rest of this decade, closing out 2030 with a theoretical industry value of $1,607 billion (with an average yearly growth rate exceeding 43%). And it's a powerful motivator for Nvidia's gaming-oriented products, which saw the greatest decline in the company's earnings, dropping by a solid 44% in Q2.

Nvidia is also looking at carving its own space in the quantum computing area, where it has been focusing on delivering software-based solutions that will allow researchers across the world to work seamlessly through cloud-provided services. The aim here, it seems, is to provide an abstraction layer between differing quantum computing solutions as they extend their market reach - and to aid in the integration between quantum solutions in High-Performance Computing (HPC) scenarios.

"So let's turn our alertness and agility to maximum, engines full-throttle, and fly through the challenges ahead while continuing to do our impactful work," he finished.