[Free Compass Playground] Pre-earning call...growth at Nvidia ahead of blowout earnings, Oura wearables boosts engineers to duel with Apple, HSBC trims management roles, and AMD should consider hiring more sales reps to capture more of the chip market.
This Week in Jobs Data:
Nvidia, AMD, HSBC, Oura, Ford…
Hi, Happy Friday,
We’re tracking a quarter of job openings growth at Nvidia ahead of blowout earnings, Oura wearables boosts engineers to duel with Apple, HSBC trims management roles, and AMD should consider hiring more sales reps to capture more of the chip market.
Read to the end for the latest labor demand trends at Dell, Best Buy, and HP, all with earnings calls coming next week.
To explore our data yourself, give our free Compass Playground a try—it’s a no-strings preview of the world’s most accurate dataset on job openings. If you love getting behind the brick wall of official company reporting, you’re gonna love this platform.
Yesterday, several hours before the chip king announced its hotly anticipated quarterly earnings, we shared a pre-earnings report informed by LinkUp data. Our message was clear: with job openings way up in the last quarter and skill demand pointing in the direction of product diversification, we anticipated continued tailwinds for the company.
The official report showed 94% YoY sales growth for the quarter, a staggering achievement. Here’s why we weren’t surprised:
Job Openings are up 35% since July's hiring slump, with growing demand for software developers and sales reps. In fact, postings for sales jobs have tripled over the period, supporting Huang's claim of "insane" demand for his new "Blackwell" chips.
Skills in Computer Vision and Parallel Computing are high on the recruitment wishlist, with openings for both up over 200% YoY. Meanwhile, our partners at Live Data Technologies report major talent arrivals in the Autonomous Vehicles and Automotive AI divisions. Together, these data points suggest a bullish approach to AI application from the chipmaker, well beyond its early wins in large language modeling.
The Finnish health tracker firm has leveled up engineering hiring by 5x over the last year, with plans to loosen Apple’s grip on the wearable tech market.
Monthly Active Job Listings at Oura YoY
Occupation Breakdown at Oura YoY - Engineering Jobs in Teal
Yes, it’s Nvidia’s world and the rest of us are just paying rent, BUT: chip competitor AMD may do well to reverse its pattern in the last two years of slashing sales jobs. Nvidia’s chips are clearly hot enough to sell themselves, but competitors like AMD without the widespread recognition of dominance will have to work harder to make their case. With job openings for sales roles down ~85% YoY, AMD’s lackluster stock performance in a world burning with chips demand looks like less of a mystery.
CEO Georges Elhedery is on the efficiency warpath, directing hundreds of managers at the British bank to reapply for their jobs. The plan will result in the dismissal of hundreds of senior managers at the bank. LinkUp data below shows that the bank began slashing job openings for management roles back in July.
HSBC Job Openings down 25% since top of year
HSBC Job Openings for Management Roles down 40% since top of year
Between a generally uncertain economic outlook, increasing competition from China, and the need to invest billions in as yet unprofitable electric vehicles, the world’s major auto companies are under intense pressure. The Compass Compare graph below shows hiring down ~20% in 2024 at the big three American car companies, Ford, GM, and Chrysler.
2024 Job Openings Index at Big 3 American Car Companies
Before the Earnings Call:
LinkUp is highlighting recent hiring trends at four companies set to report earnings next week. The data below is meant to provide additional insight ahead of official reports, and not to stand alone as an indicator of earnings results.
Every day, LinkUp indexes millions of job listings directly from more than 67,000 employer websites. In aggregate, this data tells the story of company health over time, strategic approaches to growth, signals of distress, and in-demand skills.
