Nvidia’s secret to retaining staff? No org charts, a flat structure, and two extra days off every quarter

Much has changed at Nvidia in the 19 years since HR director Febe Punsalan started working at the Santa Clara, California, headquartered company. Two decades ago, Nvidia was largely known for manufacturing the GPUs that allowed computers to render 3D graphics on videogames. Today, it's a key player in the global AI industry, developing the computer chips that provide the processing power required to train the most powerful models.

As employees at frontier AI firms blow the whistle on the supposed existential risks of artificial intelligence, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has proved much more measured in his outlook, putting the chances of AI ending the world at "zero." Despite the seemingly ever-higher stakes of the AI transition, Nvidia has "always stayed true to our culture," says Punsalan. "We're growing in terms of headcount and we use AI coding and agentic tools every day."

One region where the company is quickly growing is Europe. Nvidia ranks 14th on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For – Europe list and its architecture powers 90% of the continent's AI factories—the largest GPU cluster in Europe will soon go live in the U.K. "Europe is hugely important to our business, and we're growing across all regions and functions," says Punsalan. The company has offices in 15 European countries and the continent is a critical hub for Nvidia's robotics and automotive research. Meanwhile, Nvidia has recently hired a head of wellbeing for EMEA, to adapt perks for local customs.

But whether frontier R&D, HR, sales or engineering, Punsalan says that Nvidia's guiding principle is that "the mission is always the boss". This mantra helps guide all employees around a core objective, rather than directing staff through top-down initiatives. Everyone is encouraged to use their voice, Punsalan says, and the prioritization of tasks begins by listening to employees. "We start by listening. That's really embedded at Nvidia," she says. "We've got a very flat structure, with no org charts. We live by understanding what the mission is, what we need to drive towards, and then we go for it. I believe that's what makes Nvidia a great place to work."

This also allows the company to have a flatter organizational structure than other companies of a similar size. People leading strategically important projects will often report straight to the CEO. Huang has stated that he tries to keep the number of layers in the company as low as possible and as a result, he currently has 36 direct reports . Employees are encouraged to speak up, and the company maintains that it does not prioritize org charts or chains of command.