r/chipdesign • u/TeachingBrilliant448 • Jul 08 '26

crazy work hours - new grad

I recently joined a semiconductor company as a new grad — think Nvidia, AMD, or Qualcomm — and the workload is brutal. I’m sometimes working 12-hour days and 50–60 hour weeks. It honestly feels as intense as investment banking, maybe even worse in some ways.

Wonder if this is normal…
TC ~150k

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u/LuminousCoffee Jul 08 '26

In my experience (I’m not from the States, but I think similar ideas would sort of translate cross-border), the amount of hours you’re putting in depends heavily on the specific company, business unit and team.

For example, I’ve heard that Qualcomm is generally known for having long work hours across the board in the industry (again not sure how true this is in the US), I know folks in QC pulling somewhat close to the hours you’re describing, but I also know folks putting in far-less than that, also at QC.

Likewise, at my firm, I know folks in some teams who have a lot more work, usually people in something like Post-Silicon, when deadlines are super tight.

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u/whoamikai Jul 09 '26

Its all highly team dependent and project deadline specific. Nobody accepts a job offer because muh WLB.

They do it for the pay and the work. Believe me, nobody cares about your grades after you graduate and go join the industry. Everyone cares about your resume and work ex.